ZIP 36507 vs ZIP 36578

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36507 (Bay Minette, AL) and ZIP 36578 (Stapleton, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36507 has a population of 19,090 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 36578 has 1,749 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 36507 reports a median household income of $50,120 against $53,490 in ZIP 36578, with per-capita income of $30,279 vs $38,020. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.1% in 36507 and 8.0% in 36578. Poverty rate reads 16.4% vs 12.3%, and unemployment 4.3% 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 $183,800 in 36507 versus $213,900 in 36578, with median rent of $983 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.9% vs 100.0%. 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.