ZIP 29540 vs ZIP 29593

This side-by-side compares ZIP 29540 (Darlington, SC) and ZIP 29593 (Society Hill, SC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 29540 has a population of 5,599 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 29593 has 1,954 at 9 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 29540 reports a median household income of $53,155 against $40,568 in ZIP 29593, with per-capita income of $29,886 vs $23,828. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.1% in 29540 and 17.0% in 29593. Poverty rate reads 24.5% vs 20.7%, and unemployment 6.2% 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 $95,300 in 29540 versus — in 29593, with median rent of $883 and $1,062 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.0% vs 77.5%. 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.