ZIP 38548 vs ZIP 38552

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38548 (Buffalo Valley, TN) and ZIP 38552 (Chestnut Mound, TN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38548 has a population of 731 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 38552 has 275 at 17 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 38548 reports a median household income of — against $71,250 in ZIP 38552, with per-capita income of $23,603 vs $24,097. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.1% in 38548 and 18.5% in 38552. Poverty rate reads 21.4% vs 4.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.6% — 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 $268,600 in 38548 versus $198,600 in 38552, with median rent of $813 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.2% vs 87.3%. 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.