ZIP 27587 vs ZIP 27614

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27587 (Wake Forest, NC) and ZIP 27614 (Raleigh, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27587 has a population of 53,078 at 196 people per square mile, while ZIP 27614 has 31,516 at 448 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 27587 reports a median household income of $133,743 against $128,834 in ZIP 27614, with per-capita income of $59,229 vs $74,848. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 57.7% in 27587 and 64.2% in 27614. Poverty rate reads 5.0% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 4.8% — 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 $497,800 in 27587 versus $577,400 in 27614, with median rent of $1,544 and $1,647 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.0% vs 71.0%. 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.