ZIP 36511 vs ZIP 36542

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36511 (Bon Secour, AL) and ZIP 36542 (Gulf Shores, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36511 has a population of 764 at 63 people per square mile, while ZIP 36542 has 12,705 at 93 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 36511 reports a median household income of $87,607 against $79,639 in ZIP 36542, with per-capita income of $52,260 vs $44,566. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.0% in 36511 and 38.9% in 36542. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 10.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 2.4% — 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 — in 36511 versus $383,500 in 36542, with median rent of — and $1,502 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.7% vs 72.6%. 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.