ZIP 38342 vs ZIP 38317

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38342 (Hollow Rock, TN) and ZIP 38317 (Bruceton, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38342 has a population of 1,438 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 38317 has 2,537 at 27 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 38342 reports a median household income of $38,466 against $41,545 in ZIP 38317, with per-capita income of $25,564 vs $25,163. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.4% in 38342 and 11.2% in 38317. Poverty rate reads 34.2% vs 18.1%, and unemployment 12.4% vs 2.2% - 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 $101,000 in 38342 versus $116,100 in 38317, with median rent of $556 and $625 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.6% vs 81.4%. 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.