ZIP 35677 vs ZIP 38471

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35677 (Waterloo, AL) and ZIP 38471 (Lutts, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35677 has a population of 1,921 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 38471 has 530 at 3 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 35677 reports a median household income of $51,964 against $65,774 in ZIP 38471, with per-capita income of $45,000 vs $22,409. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.1% in 35677 and 25.6% in 38471. Poverty rate reads 5.3% vs 17.6%, and unemployment 1.0% vs 12.0% - 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 $206,000 in 35677 versus $204,300 in 38471, with median rent of $673 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.3% vs 100.0%. 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.