ZIP 35043 vs ZIP 35124

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35043 (Chelsea, AL) and ZIP 35124 (Pelham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35043 has a population of 9,234 at 78 people per square mile, while ZIP 35124 has 23,020 at 214 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 35043 reports a median household income of $121,356 against $99,726 in ZIP 35124, with per-capita income of $47,600 vs $48,408. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.6% in 35043 and 49.2% in 35124. Poverty rate reads 4.5% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 2.5% — 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 $366,200 in 35043 versus $307,600 in 35124, with median rent of $1,322 and $1,577 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.5% vs 83.8%. 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.