ZIP 27502 vs ZIP 27539

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27502 (Apex, NC) and ZIP 27539 (Apex, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27502 has a population of 30,831 at 420 people per square mile, while ZIP 27539 has 18,692 at 229 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 27502 reports a median household income of $143,922 against $145,947 in ZIP 27539, with per-capita income of $60,734 vs $58,937. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 68.4% in 27502 and 64.0% in 27539. Poverty rate reads 2.3% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 4.2% — 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 $550,900 in 27502 versus $565,600 in 27539, with median rent of $1,909 and $1,885 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.6% vs 83.1%. 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.