ZIP 36585 vs ZIP 36581

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36585 (Wagarville, AL) and ZIP 36581 (Sunflower, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36585 has a population of 972 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 36581 has 224 at 2 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 36585 reports a median household income of $106,607 against — in ZIP 36581, with per-capita income of $29,015 vs $57,625. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.7% in 36585 and 5.0% in 36581. Poverty rate reads 10.0% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 17.1% 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 36585 versus $408,600 in 36581, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.1% vs 64.6%. 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.