ZIP 35401 vs ZIP 35476

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35401 (Tuscaloosa, AL) and ZIP 35476 (Northport, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35401 has a population of 39,878 at 325 people per square mile, while ZIP 35476 has 8,106 at 570 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 35401 reports a median household income of $29,152 against $61,154 in ZIP 35476, with per-capita income of $18,050 vs $29,995. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.0% in 35401 and 24.2% in 35476. Poverty rate reads 43.5% vs 22.5%, and unemployment 13.7% vs 8.4% — 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 $144,500 in 35401 versus $221,400 in 35476, with median rent of $951 and $963 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 27.0% vs 41.2%. 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.