ZIP 35235 vs ZIP 35215

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35235 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35215 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35235 has a population of 19,484 at 537 people per square mile, while ZIP 35215 has 46,951 at 634 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 35235 reports a median household income of $63,295 against $52,793 in ZIP 35215, with per-capita income of $32,084 vs $27,977. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.1% in 35235 and 19.0% in 35215. Poverty rate reads 20.8% vs 19.2%, and unemployment 7.0% vs 7.2% — 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 $194,500 in 35235 versus $157,300 in 35215, with median rent of $1,404 and $1,148 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.5% vs 56.6%. 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.