ZIP 26038 vs ZIP 26040

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26038 (Glen Dale, WV) and ZIP 26040 (Mcmechen, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26038 has a population of 2,855 at 167 people per square mile, while ZIP 26040 has 2,103 at 350 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 26038 reports a median household income of $76,875 against $39,444 in ZIP 26040, with per-capita income of $48,584 vs $24,605. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.3% in 26038 and 12.1% in 26040. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 27.5%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 7.7% — 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 $207,500 in 26038 versus $97,400 in 26040, with median rent of $839 and $595 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.4% vs 62.7%. 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.