ZIP 35212 vs ZIP 35222

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35212 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35222 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35212 has a population of 11,539 at 760 people per square mile, while ZIP 35222 has 7,884 at 816 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 35212 reports a median household income of $36,633 against $84,066 in ZIP 35222, with per-capita income of $29,623 vs $63,877. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.0% in 35212 and 61.3% in 35222. Poverty rate reads 37.2% vs 16.7%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 3.9% — 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 $232,100 in 35212 versus $399,800 in 35222, with median rent of $841 and $1,114 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 44.6% vs 56.4%. 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.