ZIP 26217 vs ZIP 26222

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26217 (Diana, WV) and ZIP 26222 (Hacker Valley, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26217 has a population of 354 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 26222 has 454 at 2 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 26217 reports a median household income of — against $48,438 in ZIP 26222, with per-capita income of $51,892 vs $22,889. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.2% in 26217 and 13.7% in 26222. Poverty rate reads 47.7% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 13.9% vs 34.4% — 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 $137,500 in 26217 versus $58,300 in 26222, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.9% vs 88.1%. 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.