ZIP 36117 vs ZIP 36109

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36117 (Montgomery, AL) and ZIP 36109 (Montgomery, 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 36109 has 24,777 at 826 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 $59,193 in ZIP 36109, with per-capita income of $44,817 vs $32,625. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.3% in 36117 and 28.8% in 36109. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 16.1%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 3.7% — 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 $140,600 in 36109, with median rent of $1,267 and $1,142 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.1% vs 64.9%. 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.