ZIP 27409 vs ZIP 27235

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