ZIP 27523 vs ZIP 27502

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27523 (Apex, NC) and ZIP 27502 (Apex, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27523 has a population of 9,552 at 89 people per square mile, while ZIP 27502 has 30,831 at 420 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 27523 reports a median household income of $135,625 against $143,922 in ZIP 27502, with per-capita income of $65,208 vs $60,734. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 70.4% in 27523 and 68.4% in 27502. Poverty rate reads 6.8% vs 2.3%, and unemployment 2.7% vs 2.4% — 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 $659,300 in 27523 versus $550,900 in 27502, with median rent of $1,939 and $1,909 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.3% vs 81.6%. 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.