ZIP 42104 vs ZIP 42122

This side-by-side compares ZIP 42104 (Bowling Green, KY) and ZIP 42122 (Alvaton, KY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 42104 has a population of 29,610 at 204 people per square mile, while ZIP 42122 has 4,368 at 45 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 42104 reports a median household income of $75,164 against $113,705 in ZIP 42122, with per-capita income of $38,032 vs $45,915. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.8% in 42104 and 33.7% in 42122. Poverty rate reads 12.4% vs 4.6%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 4.7% — 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 $306,400 in 42104 versus $297,100 in 42122, with median rent of $1,029 and $1,013 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.7% vs 88.9%. 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.