ZIP 38401 vs ZIP 37174

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38401 (Columbia, TN) and ZIP 37174 (Spring Hill, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38401 has a population of 54,469 at 70 people per square mile, while ZIP 37174 has 26,418 at 149 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 38401 reports a median household income of $68,475 against $105,181 in ZIP 37174, with per-capita income of $35,920 vs $47,757. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.2% in 38401 and 45.8% in 37174. Poverty rate reads 11.6% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 1.8% — 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 $339,400 in 38401 versus $491,300 in 37174, with median rent of $1,187 and $1,828 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.1% vs 74.1%. 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.