ZIP 38036 vs ZIP 38002

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38036 (Gallaway, TN) and ZIP 38002 (Arlington, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38036 has a population of 478 at 292 people per square mile, while ZIP 38002 has 38,927 at 129 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 38036 reports a median household income of — against $116,895 in ZIP 38002, with per-capita income of $20,391 vs $51,122. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.3% in 38036 and 45.8% in 38002. Poverty rate reads 12.1% vs 4.7%, and unemployment 33.3% vs 2.8% — 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 $132,500 in 38036 versus $399,300 in 38002, with median rent of $686 and $1,753 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.3% vs 83.6%. 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.