ZIP 35209 vs ZIP 35229

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35209 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35229 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35209 has a population of 29,544 at 1,218 people per square mile, while ZIP 35229 has 940 at 2,116 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 35209 reports a median household income of $71,439 against — in ZIP 35229, with per-capita income of $50,432 vs $4,323. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 56.9% in 35209 and 0.0% in 35229. Poverty rate reads 17.3% vs —, and unemployment 4.0% vs 2.4% — 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 $504,600 in 35209 versus — in 35229, with median rent of $1,318 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 48.5% vs —. 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.