ZIP 26448 vs ZIP 26386

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26448 (Wallace, WV) and ZIP 26386 (Lumberport, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26448 has a population of 1,421 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 26386 has 2,411 at 35 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 26448 reports a median household income of $32,955 against $75,720 in ZIP 26386, with per-capita income of $32,192 vs $38,333. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.3% in 26448 and 7.3% in 26386. Poverty rate reads 17.8% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 8.1% vs 2.2% — 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 $77,800 in 26448 versus $186,800 in 26386, with median rent of — and $439 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.8% vs 91.6%. 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.