ZIP 35221 vs ZIP 35211

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35221 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35211 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35221 has a population of 4,834 at 507 people per square mile, while ZIP 35211 has 26,236 at 572 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 35221 reports a median household income of $33,472 against $34,884 in ZIP 35211, with per-capita income of $27,066 vs $24,187. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.9% in 35221 and 20.6% in 35211. Poverty rate reads 29.0% vs 33.8%, and unemployment 10.1% vs 6.9% — 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 $73,500 in 35221 versus $96,200 in 35211, with median rent of $1,018 and $1,030 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.2% vs 40.3%. 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.