ZIP 27609 vs ZIP 27608

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27609 (Raleigh, NC) and ZIP 27608 (Raleigh, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27609 has a population of 32,964 at 1,139 people per square mile, while ZIP 27608 has 10,429 at 1,252 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 27609 reports a median household income of $83,065 against $162,188 in ZIP 27608, with per-capita income of $67,068 vs $111,630. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 63.4% in 27609 and 86.9% in 27608. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 2.0%, and unemployment 1.6% 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 $471,200 in 27609 versus $977,400 in 27608, with median rent of $1,474 and $1,878 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 49.8% vs 76.2%. 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.