ZIP 29061 vs ZIP 29209

This side-by-side compares ZIP 29061 (Hopkins, SC) and ZIP 29209 (Columbia, SC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 29061 has a population of 13,717 at 60 people per square mile, while ZIP 29209 has 33,324 at 249 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 29061 reports a median household income of $60,307 against $58,772 in ZIP 29209, with per-capita income of $32,735 vs $37,989. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.4% in 29061 and 40.2% in 29209. Poverty rate reads 15.0% vs 19.1%, and unemployment 9.6% vs 6.0% — 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 $171,400 in 29061 versus $206,500 in 29209, with median rent of $1,208 and $1,326 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.9% vs 58.7%. 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.