ZIP 37861 vs ZIP 37888

This side-by-side compares ZIP 37861 (Rutledge, TN) and ZIP 37888 (Washburn, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 37861 has a population of 8,340 at 32 people per square mile, while ZIP 37888 has 2,741 at 19 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 37861 reports a median household income of $52,265 against $45,669 in ZIP 37888, with per-capita income of $31,628 vs $22,567. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.0% in 37861 and 14.1% in 37888. Poverty rate reads 16.9% vs 23.0%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 8.3% — 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 $213,600 in 37861 versus $137,400 in 37888, with median rent of $715 and $907 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.4% vs 78.7%. 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.