ZIP 25243 vs ZIP 25286

This side-by-side compares ZIP 25243 (Gandeeville, WV) and ZIP 25286 (Walton, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 25243 has a population of 899 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 25286 has 1,692 at 10 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 25243 reports a median household income of $48,977 against $45,250 in ZIP 25286, with per-capita income of $24,278 vs $29,393. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.2% in 25243 and 14.4% in 25286. Poverty rate reads 26.5% vs 10.8%, and unemployment 9.1% vs 8.9% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $121,700 in 25243 versus $106,500 in 25286, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.0% vs 77.7%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.