ZIP 35121 vs ZIP 35079

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35121 (Oneonta, AL) and ZIP 35079 (Hayden, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35121 has a population of 15,570 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 35079 has 8,810 at 32 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 35121 reports a median household income of $60,177 against $82,938 in ZIP 35079, with per-capita income of $31,104 vs $33,197. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.0% in 35121 and 16.6% in 35079. Poverty rate reads 16.1% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 5.4% — 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 $179,900 in 35121 versus $206,700 in 35079, with median rent of $711 and $927 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.2% vs 89.0%. 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.