ZIP 36618 vs ZIP 36688

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36618 (Mobile, AL) and ZIP 36688 (Mobile, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36618 has a population of 16,737 at 401 people per square mile, while ZIP 36688 has 659 at 475 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 36618 reports a median household income of $61,550 against — in ZIP 36688, with per-capita income of $29,239 vs $4,229. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 36618 and 0.0% in 36688. Poverty rate reads 17.8% vs 100.0%, and unemployment 10.1% vs 6.7% — 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 $164,600 in 36618 versus — in 36688, with median rent of $1,191 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 0.0%. 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.