ZIP 35218 vs ZIP 35208

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35218 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35208 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35218 has a population of 7,353 at 1,084 people per square mile, while ZIP 35208 has 14,855 at 1,626 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 35218 reports a median household income of $30,739 against $38,561 in ZIP 35208, with per-capita income of $16,404 vs $23,809. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.7% in 35218 and 20.1% in 35208. Poverty rate reads 34.5% vs 23.0%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 7.5% — 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 $92,600 in 35218 versus $97,100 in 35208, with median rent of $1,002 and $1,031 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 36.1% vs 64.2%. 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.