ZIP 35203 vs ZIP 35233

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35203 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35233 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35203 has a population of 3,798 at 726 people per square mile, while ZIP 35233 has 1,308 at 301 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 35203 reports a median household income of $47,434 against $60,336 in ZIP 35233, with per-capita income of $39,348 vs $46,927. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.5% in 35203 and 79.0% in 35233. Poverty rate reads 24.5% vs 19.1%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 1.0% — 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 $334,000 in 35203 versus $338,600 in 35233, with median rent of $1,058 and $1,638 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 29.7% vs 7.2%. 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.