ZIP 35490 vs ZIP 35188

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35490 (Vance, AL) and ZIP 35188 (Woodstock, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35490 has a population of 3,857 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 35188 has 2,715 at 46 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 35490 reports a median household income of $87,813 against $73,438 in ZIP 35188, with per-capita income of $33,730 vs $30,174. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.0% in 35490 and 11.5% in 35188. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 14.6%, and unemployment 0.9% vs 11.4% — 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 $199,200 in 35490 versus $209,300 in 35188, with median rent of $1,217 and $940 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.3% vs 90.8%. 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.