ZIP 25540 vs ZIP 25557

This side-by-side compares ZIP 25540 (Midkiff, WV) and ZIP 25557 (Ranger, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 25540 has a population of 290 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 25557 has 1,754 at 15 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 25540 reports a median household income of $2,499 against $30,804 in ZIP 25557, with per-capita income of $18,953 vs $23,917. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.0% in 25540 and 1.4% in 25557. Poverty rate reads 43.2% vs 21.2%, and unemployment 37.9% vs 5.0% — 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 — in 25540 versus — in 25557, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.5% vs 84.1%. 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.