ZIP 36703 vs ZIP 36749

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36703 (Selma, AL) and ZIP 36749 (Jones, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36703 has a population of 13,643 at 44 people per square mile, while ZIP 36749 has 1,089 at 7 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 36703 reports a median household income of $32,227 against $39,167 in ZIP 36749, with per-capita income of $25,199 vs $24,778. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.5% in 36703 and 6.7% in 36749. Poverty rate reads 26.6% vs 32.8%, and unemployment 9.5% vs 15.4% — 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 $79,200 in 36703 versus $65,600 in 36749, with median rent of $725 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.5% vs 88.9%. 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.