ZIP 26501 vs ZIP 26534

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26501 (Morgantown, WV) and ZIP 26534 (Granville, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26501 has a population of 19,616 at 126 people per square mile, while ZIP 26534 has 789 at 227 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 26501 reports a median household income of $63,529 against $31,413 in ZIP 26534, with per-capita income of $40,386 vs $25,887. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.7% in 26501 and 20.0% in 26534. Poverty rate reads 14.4% vs 35.4%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 17.0% — 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 $219,800 in 26501 versus $138,300 in 26534, with median rent of $978 and $897 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.9% vs 56.6%. 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.