ZIP 27976 vs ZIP 23322

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27976 (South Mills, NC) and ZIP 23322 (Chesapeake, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27976 has a population of 3,449 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 23322 has 60,473 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 27976 reports a median household income of $91,314 against $134,880 in ZIP 23322, with per-capita income of $40,661 vs $53,034. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.1% in 27976 and 41.9% in 23322. Poverty rate reads 8.5% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 3.9% — 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 $349,800 in 27976 versus $463,300 in 23322, with median rent of — and $1,835 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.3% vs 90.1%. 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.