ZIP 36049 vs ZIP 36071

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36049 (Luverne, AL) and ZIP 36071 (Rutledge, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36049 has a population of 5,706 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 36071 has 766 at 6 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 36049 reports a median household income of $51,126 against $86,324 in ZIP 36071, with per-capita income of $29,443 vs $55,689. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.1% in 36049 and 19.7% in 36071. Poverty rate reads 17.0% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 0.0% - 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 $140,900 in 36049 versus $155,100 in 36071, with median rent of $641 and $718 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.1% vs 76.1%. 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.