ZIP 29520 vs ZIP 29596

This side-by-side compares ZIP 29520 (Cheraw, SC) and ZIP 29596 (Wallace, SC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 29520 has a population of 14,617 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 29596 has 2,424 at 14 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 29520 reports a median household income of $42,308 against $34,682 in ZIP 29596, with per-capita income of $28,338 vs $19,221. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.6% in 29520 and 3.1% in 29596. Poverty rate reads 24.5% vs 21.9%, and unemployment 8.6% vs 2.9% — 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 $106,800 in 29520 versus $80,400 in 29596, with median rent of $807 and $839 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.4% vs 90.4%. 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.