ZIP 36117 vs ZIP 35242

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36117 (Montgomery, AL) and ZIP 35242 (Birmingham, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36117 has a population of 50,268 at 358 people per square mile, while ZIP 35242 has 49,545 at 362 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 36117 reports a median household income of $74,720 against $117,047 in ZIP 35242, with per-capita income of $44,817 vs $68,914. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.3% in 36117 and 65.8% in 35242. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 6.1%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 1.3% — 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 $241,700 in 36117 versus $477,700 in 35242, with median rent of $1,267 and $1,472 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.1% vs 73.2%. 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.