ZIP 35904 vs ZIP 35954

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35904 (Gadsden, AL) and ZIP 35954 (Attalla, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35904 has a population of 14,194 at 119 people per square mile, while ZIP 35954 has 12,416 at 46 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 35904 reports a median household income of $43,771 against $59,479 in ZIP 35954, with per-capita income of $22,123 vs $29,078. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 35904 and 12.5% in 35954. Poverty rate reads 25.6% vs 11.0%, and unemployment 8.3% vs 4.7% — 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 $117,700 in 35904 versus $135,700 in 35954, with median rent of $817 and $727 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.0% vs 79.0%. 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.