ZIP 26750 vs ZIP 21540

This side-by-side compares ZIP 26750 (Piedmont, WV) and ZIP 21540 (Luke, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 26750 has a population of 891 at 774 people per square mile, while ZIP 21540 has 65 at 93 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 26750 reports a median household income of $42,500 against $81,250 in ZIP 21540, with per-capita income of $21,324 vs $32,897. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.9% in 26750 and 11.5% in 21540. Poverty rate reads 24.8% vs 2.2%, and unemployment 14.2% vs 9.8% — 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 $46,400 in 26750 versus $51,000 in 21540, with median rent of $493 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.7% vs 88.6%. 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.