ZIP 26374 vs ZIP 26410

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26374 (Independence, WV) and ZIP 26410 (Newburg, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26374 has a population of 1,375 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 26410 has 1,037 at 18 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 26374 reports a median household income of $57,321 against $50,607 in ZIP 26410, with per-capita income of $34,487 vs $31,641. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.4% in 26374 and 4.3% in 26410. Poverty rate reads 2.6% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 7.2% — 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 $162,300 in 26374 versus $57,900 in 26410, with median rent of $634 and $1,313 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.8% vs 92.3%. 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.