ZIP 25302 vs ZIP 25312

This side-by-side compares ZIP 25302 (Charleston, WV) and ZIP 25312 (Charleston, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 25302 has a population of 15,078 at 476 people per square mile, while ZIP 25312 has 14,886 at 82 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 25302 reports a median household income of $55,210 against $57,246 in ZIP 25312, with per-capita income of $38,949 vs $30,099. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.4% in 25302 and 16.0% in 25312. Poverty rate reads 14.4% vs 21.0%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 2.3% — 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 $155,300 in 25302 versus $133,100 in 25312, with median rent of $928 and $690 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.9% vs 85.6%. 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.