ZIP 36201 vs ZIP 36203

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36201 (Anniston, AL) and ZIP 36203 (Oxford, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36201 has a population of 20,156 at 209 people per square mile, while ZIP 36203 has 18,799 at 190 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 36201 reports a median household income of $37,614 against $69,485 in ZIP 36203, with per-capita income of $23,111 vs $34,825. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 6.0% in 36201 and 24.3% in 36203. Poverty rate reads 23.9% vs 16.8%, and unemployment 10.1% vs 5.8% — 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 $80,900 in 36201 versus $178,700 in 36203, with median rent of $728 and $890 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.6% vs 73.5%. 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.