ZIP 32438 vs ZIP 32420

This side-by-side compares ZIP 32438 (Fountain, FL) and ZIP 32420 (Alford, FL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 32438 has a population of 4,060 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 32420 has 2,144 at 16 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 32438 reports a median household income of $50,000 against $48,446 in ZIP 32420, with per-capita income of $23,732 vs $30,749. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.1% in 32438 and 10.1% in 32420. Poverty rate reads 25.4% vs 16.4%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 3.0% — 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 $153,700 in 32438 versus $119,600 in 32420, with median rent of $626 and $773 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.4% vs 91.1%. 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.