ZIP 35962 vs ZIP 35974

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35962 (Crossville, AL) and ZIP 35974 (Geraldine, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35962 has a population of 8,300 at 41 people per square mile, while ZIP 35974 has 1,589 at 47 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 35962 reports a median household income of $60,392 against $52,054 in ZIP 35974, with per-capita income of $28,150 vs $23,023. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.7% in 35962 and 10.0% in 35974. Poverty rate reads 20.6% vs 18.3%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 9.6% — 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 $141,700 in 35962 versus $155,900 in 35974, with median rent of $760 and $417 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.5% vs 74.8%. 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.