ZIP 30736 vs ZIP 30742

This side-by-side compares ZIP 30736 (Ringgold, GA) and ZIP 30742 (Fort Oglethorpe, GA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 30736 has a population of 41,029 at 123 people per square mile, while ZIP 30742 has 7,460 at 860 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 30736 reports a median household income of $83,821 against $49,323 in ZIP 30742, with per-capita income of $39,421 vs $26,180. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.1% in 30736 and 16.8% in 30742. Poverty rate reads 8.0% vs 10.6%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 7.0% — 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 $264,300 in 30736 versus $194,000 in 30742, with median rent of $1,014 and $927 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.4% vs 36.6%. 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.