ZIP 35954 vs ZIP 35904

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