ZIP 36036 vs ZIP 36069

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36036 (Grady, AL) and ZIP 36069 (Ramer, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36036 has a population of 2,003 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 36069 has 1,935 at 5 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 36036 reports a median household income of $47,557 against $53,750 in ZIP 36069, with per-capita income of $34,990 vs $35,848. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.2% in 36036 and 22.1% in 36069. Poverty rate reads 31.4% vs 26.0%, and unemployment 5.6% vs 1.1% — 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 36036 versus $79,000 in 36069, with median rent of $941 and $948 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.2% vs 80.2%. 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.