ZIP 27615 vs ZIP 27609

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27615 (Raleigh, NC) and ZIP 27609 (Raleigh, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27615 has a population of 42,166 at 842 people per square mile, while ZIP 27609 has 32,964 at 1,139 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 27615 reports a median household income of $112,754 against $83,065 in ZIP 27609, with per-capita income of $66,037 vs $67,068. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.0% in 27615 and 63.4% in 27609. Poverty rate reads 5.8% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 1.6% — 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 $479,000 in 27615 versus $471,200 in 27609, with median rent of $1,612 and $1,474 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.4% vs 49.8%. 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.