ZIP 36865 vs ZIP 36832

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36865 (Loachapoka, AL) and ZIP 36832 (Auburn, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36865 has a population of 23 at 88 people per square mile, while ZIP 36832 has 22,071 at 120 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 36865 reports a median household income of — against $42,717 in ZIP 36832, with per-capita income of $27,486 vs $28,403. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.8% in 36865 and 49.8% in 36832. Poverty rate reads 18.2% vs 34.2%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.6% — 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 36865 versus $263,900 in 36832, with median rent of — and $1,084 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 9.1% vs 50.6%. 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.