ZIP 36038 vs ZIP 36421

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36038 (Gantt, AL) and ZIP 36421 (Andalusia, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36038 has a population of 57 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 36421 has 9,241 at 17 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 36038 reports a median household income of $53,250 against $65,801 in ZIP 36421, with per-capita income of $32,017 vs $32,410. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.3% in 36038 and 20.7% in 36421. Poverty rate reads 26.9% vs 12.9%, and unemployment 30.0% vs 2.2% - 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 - in 36038 versus $170,900 in 36421, with median rent of - and $794 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 80.6%. 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.