ZIP 41501 vs ZIP 41522

This side-by-side compares ZIP 41501 (Pikeville, KY) and ZIP 41522 (Elkhorn City, KY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 41501 has a population of 23,298 at 45 people per square mile, while ZIP 41522 has 5,352 at 32 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 41501 reports a median household income of $47,349 against $37,331 in ZIP 41522, with per-capita income of $30,521 vs $25,767. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.5% in 41501 and 14.1% in 41522. Poverty rate reads 26.3% vs 31.9%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 5.7% - 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 $157,800 in 41501 versus $90,600 in 41522, with median rent of $907 and $879 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.3% vs 78.6%. 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.