ZIP 35444 vs ZIP 35490

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35444 (Brookwood, AL) and ZIP 35490 (Vance, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35444 has a population of 3,699 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 35490 has 3,857 at 22 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 35444 reports a median household income of $69,207 against $87,813 in ZIP 35490, with per-capita income of $34,344 vs $33,730. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 35444 and 17.0% in 35490. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 0.9% — 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 $181,500 in 35444 versus $199,200 in 35490, with median rent of $934 and $1,217 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.8% vs 88.3%. 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.