ZIP 27540 vs ZIP 27526

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27540 (Holly Springs, NC) and ZIP 27526 (Fuquay Varina, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27540 has a population of 29,363 at 244 people per square mile, while ZIP 27526 has 38,894 at 155 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 27540 reports a median household income of $128,989 against $110,017 in ZIP 27526, with per-capita income of $52,906 vs $46,060. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.4% in 27540 and 46.4% in 27526. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 3.3% — 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 $522,500 in 27540 versus $414,000 in 27526, with median rent of $1,947 and $1,642 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.6% vs 80.5%. 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.