ZIP 29479 vs ZIP 29431

This side-by-side compares ZIP 29479 (Saint Stephen, SC) and ZIP 29431 (Bonneau, SC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 29479 has a population of 7,337 at 30 people per square mile, while ZIP 29431 has 6,071 at 30 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 29479 reports a median household income of $51,397 against $58,571 in ZIP 29431, with per-capita income of $28,011 vs $33,475. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.4% in 29479 and 10.1% in 29431. Poverty rate reads 25.0% vs 8.2%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 3.6% — 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 $127,700 in 29479 versus $220,600 in 29431, with median rent of $950 and $1,076 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.9% vs 82.1%. 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.