ZIP 36538 vs ZIP 36569

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36538 (Frankville, AL) and ZIP 36569 (Saint Stephens, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36538 has a population of 374 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 36569 has 928 at 6 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 36538 reports a median household income of $37,181 against $55,774 in ZIP 36569, with per-capita income of $14,226 vs $26,863. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.9% in 36538 and 10.3% in 36569. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 9.9%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 — in 36538 versus $163,500 in 36569, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 30.4% vs 98.4%. 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.