ZIP 38481 vs ZIP 38469

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38481 (Saint Joseph, TN) and ZIP 38469 (Loretto, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38481 has a population of 896 at 30 people per square mile, while ZIP 38469 has 4,092 at 23 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 38481 reports a median household income of $49,567 against $67,566 in ZIP 38469, with per-capita income of $44,422 vs $29,694. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.1% in 38481 and 16.8% in 38469. Poverty rate reads 16.6% vs 10.4%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 1.6% - 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 $192,700 in 38481 versus $188,300 in 38469, with median rent of $628 and $688 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.3% vs 88.3%. 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.