ZIP 35968 vs ZIP 35986

This side-by-side compares ZIP 35968 (Fort Payne, AL) and ZIP 35986 (Rainsville, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 35968 has a population of 4,575 at 33 people per square mile, while ZIP 35986 has 7,744 at 66 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 35968 reports a median household income of $43,539 against $68,056 in ZIP 35986, with per-capita income of $23,798 vs $34,065. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.0% in 35968 and 24.9% in 35986. Poverty rate reads 27.2% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 7.0% vs 1.0% — 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 $122,400 in 35968 versus $221,600 in 35986, with median rent of $698 and $558 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.7% vs 89.5%. 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.