ZIP 27539 vs ZIP 27518

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27539 (Apex, NC) and ZIP 27518 (Cary, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27539 has a population of 18,692 at 229 people per square mile, while ZIP 27518 has 19,630 at 788 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 27539 reports a median household income of $145,947 against $123,488 in ZIP 27518, with per-capita income of $58,937 vs $69,623. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.0% in 27539 and 71.8% in 27518. Poverty rate reads 2.5% vs 5.5%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 3.0% — 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 $565,600 in 27539 versus $632,200 in 27518, with median rent of $1,885 and $1,681 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.1% vs 66.1%. 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.