ZIP 37324 vs ZIP 37318

This side-by-side compares ZIP 37324 (Decherd, TN) and ZIP 37318 (Cowan, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 37324 has a population of 5,322 at 29 people per square mile, while ZIP 37318 has 1,978 at 64 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 37324 reports a median household income of $50,417 against $52,125 in ZIP 37318, with per-capita income of $32,871 vs $22,694. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.3% in 37324 and 12.9% in 37318. Poverty rate reads 11.7% vs 29.3%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 10.3% — 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 $223,200 in 37324 versus $177,100 in 37318, with median rent of $869 and $781 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.5% vs 63.1%. 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.