ZIP 36688 vs ZIP 36618

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