ZIP 35646 vs ZIP 35661

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35646 (Leighton, AL) and ZIP 35661 (Muscle Shoals, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35646 has a population of 4,635 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 35661 has 16,617 at 115 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 35646 reports a median household income of $71,217 against $74,310 in ZIP 35661, with per-capita income of $40,706 vs $34,403. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.4% in 35646 and 23.8% in 35661. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 3.9% — 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 $142,900 in 35646 versus $191,800 in 35661, with median rent of $559 and $1,006 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.2% vs 70.3%. 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.