ZIP 26743 vs ZIP 26731

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26743 (New Creek, WV) and ZIP 26731 (Lahmansville, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26743 has a population of 1,613 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 26731 has 382 at 9 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 26743 reports a median household income of $61,331 against — in ZIP 26731, with per-capita income of $32,402 vs $30,315. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.8% in 26743 and 14.9% in 26731. Poverty rate reads 14.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 7.0% 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 $198,100 in 26743 versus $318,900 in 26731, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.6% vs 57.0%. 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.