ZIP 27601 vs ZIP 27605

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27601 (Raleigh, NC) and ZIP 27605 (Raleigh, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27601 has a population of 9,450 at 2,034 people per square mile, while ZIP 27605 has 4,495 at 1,758 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 27601 reports a median household income of $71,350 against $71,096 in ZIP 27605, with per-capita income of $56,385 vs $65,785. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.9% in 27601 and 75.7% in 27605. Poverty rate reads 20.2% vs 18.8%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 2.2% — 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 $579,500 in 27601 versus $540,000 in 27605, with median rent of $1,550 and $1,668 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 26.0% vs 29.4%. 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.