ZIP 35674 vs ZIP 35661

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35674 (Tuscumbia, 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 35674 has a population of 18,475 at 38 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 35674 reports a median household income of $64,706 against $74,310 in ZIP 35661, with per-capita income of $35,001 vs $34,403. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.5% in 35674 and 23.8% in 35661. Poverty rate reads 15.4% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 1.5% 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 $183,100 in 35674 versus $191,800 in 35661, with median rent of $792 and $1,006 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.7% 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.