ZIP 35063 vs ZIP 35584

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35063 (Empire, AL) and ZIP 35584 (Sipsey, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35063 has a population of 3,866 at 38 people per square mile, while ZIP 35584 has 460 at 297 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 35063 reports a median household income of $61,138 against $26,750 in ZIP 35584, with per-capita income of $27,964 vs $18,969. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.3% in 35063 and 6.1% in 35584. Poverty rate reads 17.5% vs 26.7%, and unemployment 7.3% vs 5.1% — 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 $110,500 in 35063 versus $101,000 in 35584, with median rent of $956 and $921 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.8% vs 49.2%. 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.