ZIP 26074 vs ZIP 26032

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26074 (West Liberty, WV) and ZIP 26032 (Bethany, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26074 has a population of 1,184 at 278 people per square mile, while ZIP 26032 has 1,243 at 40 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 26074 reports a median household income of $50,000 against $58,750 in ZIP 26032, with per-capita income of $13,163 vs $15,220. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.6% in 26074 and 48.6% in 26032. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 10.1% — 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 $164,800 in 26074 versus $116,300 in 26032, with median rent of $893 and $670 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.7% vs 68.4%. 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.