ZIP 37617 vs ZIP 37686

This side-by-side compares ZIP 37617 (Blountville, TN) and ZIP 37686 (Piney Flats, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 37617 has a population of 14,251 at 93 people per square mile, while ZIP 37686 has 7,072 at 93 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 37617 reports a median household income of $64,764 against $84,264 in ZIP 37686, with per-capita income of $35,074 vs $43,900. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.7% in 37617 and 35.5% in 37686. Poverty rate reads 11.2% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 2.3% — 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 $247,700 in 37617 versus $352,200 in 37686, with median rent of $920 and $1,032 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.3% vs 76.5%. 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.