ZIP 36742 vs ZIP 36738

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36742 (Gallion, AL) and ZIP 36738 (Faunsdale, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36742 has a population of 2,554 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 36738 has 952 at 5 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 36742 reports a median household income of $31,231 against $34,583 in ZIP 36738, with per-capita income of $31,522 vs $20,301. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.1% in 36742 and 13.7% in 36738. Poverty rate reads 21.6% vs 20.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 14.2% — 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 $142,000 in 36742 versus — in 36738, with median rent of $796 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 69.8%. 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.