ZIP 35243 vs ZIP 35223

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35243 (Birmingham, AL) and ZIP 35223 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35243 has a population of 17,328 at 551 people per square mile, while ZIP 35223 has 11,043 at 519 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 35243 reports a median household income of $99,645 against $168,278 in ZIP 35223, with per-capita income of $79,245 vs $99,041. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.4% in 35243 and 83.9% in 35223. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 1.6% — 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 $538,400 in 35243 versus $775,100 in 35223, with median rent of $1,683 and $1,395 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 54.1% vs 90.7%. 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.