ZIP 36041 vs ZIP 36046

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36041 (Highland Home, AL) and ZIP 36046 (Lapine, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36041 has a population of 1,318 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 36046 has 1,490 at 8 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 36041 reports a median household income of $60,903 against $41,974 in ZIP 36046, with per-capita income of $26,148 vs $22,911. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.0% in 36041 and 8.4% in 36046. Poverty rate reads 16.5% vs 17.4%, and unemployment 7.3% vs 8.9% — 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 $160,500 in 36041 versus $103,400 in 36046, with median rent of $744 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.2% vs 89.0%. 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.