ZIP 29543 vs ZIP 29574

This side-by-side compares ZIP 29543 (Fork, SC) and ZIP 29574 (Mullins, SC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 29543 has a population of 606 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 29574 has 11,909 at 46 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 29543 reports a median household income of $55,658 against $34,112 in ZIP 29574, with per-capita income of $30,752 vs $22,090. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.1% in 29543 and 14.0% in 29574. Poverty rate reads 3.3% vs 34.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 8.5% — 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 $84,400 in 29543 versus $87,200 in 29574, with median rent of — and $603 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.1% vs 64.0%. 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.