ZIP 25311 vs ZIP 25302

This side-by-side compares ZIP 25311 (Charleston, WV) and ZIP 25302 (Charleston, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 25311 has a population of 10,815 at 148 people per square mile, while ZIP 25302 has 15,078 at 476 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 25311 reports a median household income of $62,800 against $55,210 in ZIP 25302, with per-capita income of $43,712 vs $38,949. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.2% in 25311 and 32.4% in 25302. Poverty rate reads 20.9% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 11.7% vs 6.4% — 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 $137,200 in 25311 versus $155,300 in 25302, with median rent of $918 and $928 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 55.4% vs 64.9%. 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.