ZIP 35553 vs ZIP 35572

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35553 (Double Springs, AL) and ZIP 35572 (Houston, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35553 has a population of 4,680 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 35572 has 1,131 at 6 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 35553 reports a median household income of $63,207 against $70,911 in ZIP 35572, with per-capita income of $29,036 vs $32,338. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.7% in 35553 and 16.6% in 35572. Poverty rate reads 16.7% vs 7.2%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 1.4% — 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 $108,700 in 35553 versus $305,000 in 35572, with median rent of $586 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.8% vs 93.7%. 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.