ZIP 38501 vs ZIP 38506

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38501 (Cookeville, TN) and ZIP 38506 (Cookeville, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38501 has a population of 36,687 at 159 people per square mile, while ZIP 38506 has 26,521 at 63 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 38501 reports a median household income of $52,145 against $70,279 in ZIP 38506, with per-capita income of $29,719 vs $37,700. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.4% in 38501 and 30.6% in 38506. Poverty rate reads 21.4% vs 13.8%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 3.5% — 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 $284,600 in 38501 versus $288,100 in 38506, with median rent of $883 and $1,007 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 48.9% vs 74.7%. 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.