ZIP 36545 vs ZIP 36784

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36545 (Jackson, AL) and ZIP 36784 (Thomasville, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36545 has a population of 9,941 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 36784 has 7,754 at 11 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 36545 reports a median household income of $46,553 against $48,434 in ZIP 36784, with per-capita income of $28,907 vs $27,546. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.5% in 36545 and 10.3% in 36784. Poverty rate reads 25.2% vs 19.5%, and unemployment 14.7% vs 3.4% — 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 $141,200 in 36545 versus $110,700 in 36784, with median rent of $650 and $924 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.4% vs 68.1%. 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.