ZIP 29169 vs ZIP 29210

This side-by-side compares ZIP 29169 (West Columbia, SC) and ZIP 29210 (Columbia, SC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 29169 has a population of 22,845 at 736 people per square mile, while ZIP 29210 has 40,356 at 975 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 29169 reports a median household income of $57,122 against $50,871 in ZIP 29210, with per-capita income of $37,603 vs $27,044. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 41.3% in 29169 and 29.8% in 29210. Poverty rate reads 15.0% vs 20.1%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 5.5% — 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 $209,200 in 29169 versus $194,400 in 29210, with median rent of $1,173 and $1,117 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 53.3% vs 36.3%. 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.