ZIP 35963 vs ZIP 35974

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35963 (Dawson, 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 35963 has a population of 1,704 at 24 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 35963 reports a median household income of $59,926 against $52,054 in ZIP 35974, with per-capita income of $21,947 vs $23,023. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 6.6% in 35963 and 10.0% in 35974. Poverty rate reads 31.7% vs 18.3%, and unemployment 4.2% 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 $82,600 in 35963 versus $155,900 in 35974, with median rent of $668 and $417 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.3% 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.