ZIP 27235 vs ZIP 27409

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27235 (Colfax, NC) and ZIP 27409 (Greensboro, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27235 has a population of 4,136 at 118 people per square mile, while ZIP 27409 has 15,621 at 310 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 27235 reports a median household income of $101,173 against $60,281 in ZIP 27409, with per-capita income of $53,784 vs $37,748. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.9% in 27235 and 43.3% in 27409. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 16.5%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 5.8% — 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 $304,000 in 27235 versus $225,000 in 27409, with median rent of $2,079 and $1,280 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.5% vs 31.1%. 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.