ZIP 35542 vs ZIP 35555

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35542 (Bankston, AL) and ZIP 35555 (Fayette, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35542 has a population of 1,021 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 35555 has 10,177 at 12 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 35542 reports a median household income of $44,674 against $47,020 in ZIP 35555, with per-capita income of $22,886 vs $29,079. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.5% in 35542 and 18.8% in 35555. Poverty rate reads 27.1% vs 26.7%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 10.4% — 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 — in 35542 versus $119,300 in 35555, with median rent of — and $683 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.2% vs 73.1%. 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.