ZIP 38544 vs ZIP 38545

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38544 (Baxter, TN) and ZIP 38545 (Bloomington Springs, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38544 has a population of 6,543 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 38545 has 1,474 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 38544 reports a median household income of $69,823 against $59,512 in ZIP 38545, with per-capita income of $31,331 vs $30,100. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.6% in 38544 and 19.1% in 38545. Poverty rate reads 17.2% vs 15.1%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 6.1% — 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 $245,100 in 38544 versus $118,100 in 38545, with median rent of $955 and $855 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.8% vs 72.5%. 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.