ZIP 26416 vs ZIP 26250

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26416 (Philippi, WV) and ZIP 26250 (Belington, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26416 has a population of 7,529 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 26250 has 5,570 at 25 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 26416 reports a median household income of $54,741 against $47,682 in ZIP 26250, with per-capita income of $27,358 vs $23,087. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.9% in 26416 and 8.6% in 26250. Poverty rate reads 17.7% vs 24.1%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 7.6% — 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 $152,200 in 26416 versus $112,000 in 26250, with median rent of $793 and $831 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.8% vs 75.8%. 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.