ZIP 36264 vs ZIP 36273

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36264 (Heflin, AL) and ZIP 36273 (Ranburne, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36264 has a population of 8,659 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 36273 has 2,914 at 22 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 36264 reports a median household income of $49,814 against $90,278 in ZIP 36273, with per-capita income of $29,765 vs $33,199. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 36264 and 30.1% in 36273. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 15.1%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 1.8% — 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 $158,500 in 36264 versus $258,300 in 36273, with median rent of $780 and $855 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.1% vs 85.6%. 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.