ZIP 36262 vs ZIP 36269

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36262 (Fruithurst, AL) and ZIP 36269 (Muscadine, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36262 has a population of 1,448 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 36269 has 1,395 at 12 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 36262 reports a median household income of $68,611 against $44,618 in ZIP 36269, with per-capita income of $28,149 vs $28,246. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.3% in 36262 and 19.3% in 36269. Poverty rate reads 14.6% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 5.0% 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 $155,600 in 36262 versus $127,500 in 36269, with median rent of $779 and $1,035 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.5% vs 80.8%. 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.