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ZIP Code25501

Alkol, WV

Lincoln County · West Virginia · United States
Home to 1,230 people across 26.021 square miles.

EasternOwner-majority14 ZIPs in county

At a glance

25501 by the numbers

Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.

Population
1,230
±511 · 36th pctile nationally
Median household income
$50,024
US median $70,109 · bottom 25%
Median home value
$110,800
US median $207,500 · bottom 25%
Median age
54.2
US median 42 years
Population density
47/mi²
41th pctile most dense
Land area
26.021 mi²
negligible water area

Location

Where 25501 is

38.161533, -81.957254 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates38.161533, -81.957254
Time zoneAmerica/New_York
CountyLincoln County
StateWest Virginia (WV)
Land area26.021 mi²
Coordinate sourceCensus ZCTA internal point

Local time

America/New_York

—:—:—

Current weather

Live from the National Weather Service

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Distance to major cities

Straight-line, computed from coordinates

Atlanta, GA333.8 mi
Philadelphia, PA384.7 mi
Chicago, IL394.8 mi
New York, NY459.2 mi

People

Who lives in 25501

1,230 residents in 505 households, averaging 2.44 people per household. The largest age group is 65+ at 24.6% of residents.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1823.7%
18-2410.2%
25-346.7%
35-443.1%
45-5412.3%
55-6419.4%
65+24.6%

Households

Composition and size

Total households505
Average household size2.44
Family households68.3%
Living alone31.7%
Median age54.2 years
Households with internet78.8%

Race & ethnicity

Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.

White87.2%
Pacific Islander1.0%
Two or more11.9%
Hispanic / Latino2.1%

Income & work

What people earn in 25501

The median household here earns $50,024 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 25501 ahead of 16% of American ZIP codes. 28.2% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$50,024
LowestHighest
Higher than 16% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$50,024 ±$40,170
Per capita income$17,119
Poverty rate28.2%
Unemployment rate0.0%
Labor force participation17.5%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k39.4%
$25-50k10.5%
$50-75k18.0%
$75-100k20.0%
$100-150k12.1%
$150-200k0.0%
$200k+0.0%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 8.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 71.5% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 25501

A typical home is valued at $110,800. This is an owner-majority area — 89.3% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1985.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value$110,800
Median gross rent—/mo
Median year built1985
Housing units531
Vacancy rate4.9%

Own vs. rent

Of 505 occupied units

Owner-occupied89.3%
Renter-occupied10.7%
Owner households451
Renter households54

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family66.1%
20+ units33.9%

Getting to work

How 25501 commutes

68.1% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 37.7 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone68.1%
Walked31.9%

Travel time

Mean commute 37.7 minutes

<10 min31.9%
10-190.0%
20-290.0%
30-4430.7%
45-597.8%
60+29.5%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 25501

ZIP code 25501 is assigned to Alkol, WV, and falls within Lincoln County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 1,230 people live inside it.

At 47 residents per square mile spread over 26.021 square miles, 25501 reads as a rural area. It is a sparsely populated postal code, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.

Household earnings run below the national median. At $50,024, 25501 sits in the lower half, ahead of 16% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.

Living here

What life in Alkol looks like

Housing in 25501 costs below the national median. A typical home is valued at $110,800 against a US median of $207,500. Ownership dominates: 89.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, which usually signals an established residential area with relatively low turnover.

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 66.1% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1985, making the housing here from the later twentieth century. At 4.9%, vacancy is low — housing here is tightly held.

The population skews considerably older than the national median, with a median age of 54.2 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.44 people, and 68.3% are family households.

Getting to work takes 37.7 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 68.1% of workers, while 31.9% walk. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Alkol, WV

25501 covers a rural area, and accommodation within the postal code itself is likely to be sparse — perhaps a country inn, a lodge or a vacation rental rather than a conventional hotel. Widening the search radius is usually the practical approach, and it also opens up more availability at short notice.

For reference, Atlanta, GA is about 333.8 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.

Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 25501 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 25501 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.

For anyone weighing a move, 25501 offers a compact profile of Alkol: 1,230 residents, a median household income of $50,024, 8.4% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 0.0%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.

One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 25501 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Alkol may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.

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Questions

Common questions about 25501

What city is ZIP code 25501 in?
25501 serves Alkol, West Virginia, in Lincoln County, United States.
What is the population of 25501?
About 1,230 people live in ZIP code 25501, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±511. That works out to roughly 47 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 25501?
The median household income in 25501 is $50,024 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $17,119. Median income is more representative than an average because it isn't skewed by a small number of very high earners.
How expensive is housing in 25501?
The median home value is $110,800 and median gross rent is — a month. 89.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Is 25501 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 8.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 0.0%, and the median age is 54.2. The average commute is 37.7 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 25501 in?
25501 observes Eastern Time (America/New_York). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 25501?
ZIP code 25501 covers 26.021 square miles of land, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 25501 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 25501 reads as a rural area. It holds 47 people per square mile across 26.021 square miles of land. For reference, densities above 10,000 per square mile generally indicate an urban core, 1,000–3,000 is typically suburban, and under 200 is rural. These are rules of thumb rather than official designations — the Census Bureau classifies urban and rural areas by census block, not by ZIP code.
What is the commute like from 25501?
The average one-way commute from 25501 takes about 37.7 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 68.1% of workers aged 16 and over. Commute figures cover people who were employed and working outside the home during the survey period.
How many people work in 25501?
About 166 residents of 25501 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 17.5% and the unemployment rate is 0.0%. Note this counts residents by where they live, not by where they work — a ZIP with many offices can have far more jobs than employed residents.
Where should I stay when visiting 25501?
Accommodation in and around Alkol, WV ranges with the character of the area. See the 'Where to stay' section on this page for local context, and use the live search there for current availability and pricing.
Does 25501 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Alkol as the primary place and Lincoln County as the county. ZIP codes follow mail delivery routes rather than municipal or county lines, so a single code can straddle boundaries, and USPS also recognises alternate acceptable city names for many codes. If you need the definitive answer for a specific street address, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup is the authority.
Can ZIP code 25501 change?
Yes. USPS adjusts ZIP codes as delivery volumes shift — codes are occasionally split, merged, retired or newly created, and boundaries move more often than most people assume. The Census Bureau's ZCTA definitions, which underpin the demographic figures on this page, are redrawn only once a decade, so the two can drift apart between censuses.

Methodology

Where this data comes from

  • Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
  • Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 25501. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
  • Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
  • Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
  • Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
On accuracy. ACS figures are survey estimates, not counts. The margin of error shown alongside the population figure means the true value has a 90% chance of falling in that range. For small ZIP codes the error can be large relative to the estimate — treat the direction as more reliable than the exact number. This page reports data for ZCTA 25501, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.