ZIP 29081 vs ZIP 29082

This side-by-side compares ZIP 29081 (Ehrhardt, SC) and ZIP 29082 (Lodge, SC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 29081 has a population of 1,352 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 29082 has 572 at 5 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 29081 reports a median household income of $38,147 against $42,833 in ZIP 29082, with per-capita income of $30,409 vs $37,448. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.5% in 29081 and 17.4% in 29082. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 17.3%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $105,700 in 29081 versus $111,600 in 29082, with median rent of $638 and $1,092 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.5% vs 80.5%. 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.