ZIP 36312 vs ZIP 36321

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36312 (Ashford, AL) and ZIP 36321 (Cowarts, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36312 has a population of 6,187 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 36321 has 1,632 at 91 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 36312 reports a median household income of $56,994 against $64,267 in ZIP 36321, with per-capita income of $32,081 vs $25,787. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.8% in 36312 and 11.3% in 36321. Poverty rate reads 17.4% vs 18.0%, and unemployment 3.5% 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 $160,000 in 36312 versus $177,700 in 36321, with median rent of $884 and $923 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.0% vs 74.6%. 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.