ZIP 25287 vs ZIP 25260

This side-by-side compares ZIP 25287 (West Columbia, WV) and ZIP 25260 (Mason, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 25287 has a population of 1,272 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 25260 has 1,577 at 223 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 25287 reports a median household income of $99,458 against $49,167 in ZIP 25260, with per-capita income of $24,304 vs $32,903. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.5% in 25287 and 13.4% in 25260. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 15.5%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.6% — 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 $193,900 in 25287 versus $99,000 in 25260, with median rent of — and $983 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.9% vs 81.0%. 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.