ZIP 35242 vs ZIP 35243

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35242 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35243 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35242 has a population of 49,545 at 362 people per square mile, while ZIP 35243 has 17,328 at 551 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 35242 reports a median household income of $117,047 against $99,645 in ZIP 35243, with per-capita income of $68,914 vs $79,245. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.8% in 35242 and 72.4% in 35243. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 2.5% — 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 $477,700 in 35242 versus $538,400 in 35243, with median rent of $1,472 and $1,683 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.2% vs 54.1%. 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.