ZIP 36584 vs ZIP 36539

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36584 (Vinegar Bend, AL) and ZIP 36539 (Fruitdale, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36584 has a population of 772 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 36539 has 802 at 4 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 36584 reports a median household income of $30,639 against $55,625 in ZIP 36539, with per-capita income of $33,892 vs $25,137. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.2% in 36584 and 14.0% in 36539. Poverty rate reads 34.3% vs 6.8%, 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 36584 versus $124,600 in 36539, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.0% vs 88.6%. 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.