ZIP 25430 vs ZIP 25438

This side-by-side compares ZIP 25430 (Kearneysville, WV) and ZIP 25438 (Ranson, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 25430 has a population of 8,112 at 66 people per square mile, while ZIP 25438 has 6,266 at 273 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 25430 reports a median household income of $86,806 against $81,875 in ZIP 25438, with per-capita income of $40,456 vs $37,143. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.0% in 25430 and 17.4% in 25438. Poverty rate reads 10.2% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 3.3% — 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 $299,900 in 25430 versus $254,400 in 25438, with median rent of $1,287 and $1,087 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.2% vs 72.8%. 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.