ZIP 35125 vs ZIP 35135

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35125 (Pell City, AL) and ZIP 35135 (Riverside, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35125 has a population of 10,456 at 85 people per square mile, while ZIP 35135 has 1,812 at 106 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 35125 reports a median household income of $59,891 against $68,681 in ZIP 35135, with per-capita income of $26,730 vs $38,367. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.3% in 35125 and 22.6% in 35135. Poverty rate reads 18.9% vs 19.0%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 5.6% — 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 $183,100 in 35125 versus $250,600 in 35135, with median rent of $925 and $1,268 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.6% vs 79.8%. 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.