ZIP 26456 vs ZIP 26436

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26456 (West Union, WV) and ZIP 26436 (Smithburg, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26456 has a population of 3,734 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 26436 has 204 at 33 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 26456 reports a median household income of $58,000 against — in ZIP 26436, with per-capita income of $31,653 vs $20,244. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.3% in 26456 and 0.0% in 26436. Poverty rate reads 20.8% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 9.1% vs 0.0% — 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 $164,400 in 26456 versus $155,400 in 26436, with median rent of $816 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.8% vs 50.0%. 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.