ZIP 35215 vs ZIP 35216

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35215 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35216 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35215 has a population of 46,951 at 634 people per square mile, while ZIP 35216 has 36,408 at 1,003 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 35215 reports a median household income of $52,793 against $74,525 in ZIP 35216, with per-capita income of $27,977 vs $51,592. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.0% in 35215 and 55.8% in 35216. Poverty rate reads 19.2% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 7.2% vs 5.0% — 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 $157,300 in 35215 versus $398,200 in 35216, with median rent of $1,148 and $1,373 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 56.6% vs 55.6%. 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.