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McDowell County · West Virginia

ZIP code 24879

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 24879 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
299

ZCTA residents

Median income
—

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$66,200

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
6%

West Virginia state rate

Quick answer

ZIP 24879 sits in McDowell County, West Virginia and is home to 299 people. Median household income is —, the median home is worth $66,200 and median gross rent is —. 62.9% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 6% (West Virginia state rate).

County
McDowell County

FIPS 54047

State
West Virginia (WV)

738 ZIPs covered

Area codes
Not published

No NANPA match for this ZIP

Metro area
Outside covered metros

Rate jurisdiction used for tax

The numbers for 24879

American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.

Population
299ZIP 24879 residents
Median household income
—Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$66,200Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
—Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
58.6 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
62.9%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 24879 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 24879 is a very small community in McDowell County, West Virginia, with 299 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #551 of 738 ranked by population — larger than 25% of them. The median age here is 58.6 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 24879 earn a median of not published a year. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 13.7% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 24879 is valued at $66,200, 78.2% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs not published a month. 62.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

A median age of 58.6 puts ZIP 24879 well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages. With 299 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare ZIP 24879 against its county rather than against national figures.

The Census withheld household income, gross rent for ZIP 24879 because the sample was too thin to publish at this geography. Those values were suppressed at the source, not lost in our dataset, and we do not model a replacement. Everything else on this page comes straight from the ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year tables.

Reading ZIP 24879 in context

How 24879 sits inside McDowell County and West Virginia.

ZIP 24879 is tabulated inside McDowell County, West Virginia, one of 34 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 738 across West Virginia. This is one of the smallest tabulated ZIP areas in the state, the kind of rural route where a single subdivision or farm cluster accounts for most addresses. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 24879 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 24879 reports a median household income of not published. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $66,200, 45% above the county figure and 45% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at not published a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

West Virginia charges 6% statewide, and local governments overlapping 24879 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 24879 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.

Sales tax in 24879

What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.

Rate applied
6%State base rate only
Tax on $100
$6Rounded to the dollar
Tax on $1,000
$60Before any exemptions

West Virginia levies 6% statewide, and counties, cities and special districts inside this ZIP can add their own local rate on top. Check the county page for the local component before you quote a price.

Affordability in this ZIP

Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.

Rent burden
—Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
—Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$343/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
13.7%Residents below poverty line

A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.

How 24879 compares

ZIP 24879 against the median ZIP in McDowell County and across West Virginia.

MeasureZIP 24879County medianState medianvs state
Median household income—$33,285$54,285—
Median home value$66,200$45,800$120,600-45%
Median gross rent—$666$794—
Population299280696-57%

Medians are computed across the 34 ZIP areas in McDowell County and the 738 ZIP areas in West Virginia.

Statewide rank

Where this ZIP places among all 738 West Virginia ZIP areas.

Income

Not published

—
Home value

above 12% of 562 state ZIPs

#497
Population

larger than 25% of 738 state ZIPs

#551

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under McDowell County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in McDowell County, West Virginia.

ZIP 24879 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 24879?
ZIP 24879 lies mostly in McDowell County, West Virginia. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
What sales tax do I pay in 24879?
West Virginia charges 6% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
Is 24879 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs — a month, and the median home is worth $66,200 — -45% against the typical West Virginia ZIP.
Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.

Related pages for this area.

Sources & transparency

Every figure on this page is a published estimate for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 24879, except the affordability ratios and mortgage estimate, which we derive from those medians and label as estimates.

Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.