ZIP 35147 vs ZIP 35176

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35147 (Sterrett, AL) and ZIP 35176 (Vandiver, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35147 has a population of 5,468 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 35176 has 921 at 34 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 35147 reports a median household income of $91,739 against $49,348 in ZIP 35176, with per-capita income of $40,938 vs $38,240. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.9% in 35147 and 6.2% in 35176. Poverty rate reads 7.5% vs 14.6%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 0.3% — 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 $317,300 in 35147 versus $94,500 in 35176, with median rent of $1,226 and $964 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.2% vs 68.9%. 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.