Rental market · ZIP 36587 · Mobile County, AL

ZIP 36587, Mobile County, AL rental market

Population 12,013 · Mobile County, AL · ZIP Code Tabulation Area

Ranked · ACS 2024 5-year

CGRADE
46.6/100 · Rental Investor ZIP Score
National rank #10,174 of 20,132 scored ZIP Codes
AL rank #230 of 410 · data confidence: moderate

Grade cut points, score out of 100: A from 63.7 · B from 54.7 · C from 42.4 · D from 28.1. This ZIP's 46.6 sits in the C band, which opens at 42.4 and ends below 54.7. The cut points are the model's own, read from the published ZIP dataset, and are identical for every ZIP Code area.

The four category scores that combine into the number above, on the model's own 0 to 100 score scale. These bars are not percentiles: for where those scores place this ZIP Code against every other scored one, see how this ZIP ranks below.

Cash Flow & Affordability ZIP data
66
Local Demand & Market Quality ZIP data
56
Surrounding-Market Growth county / place context
26
Stability & Risk ZIP + place context
51

Why it ranks here: rent sits high relative to price and taxes (solid cash-flow/affordability).

Watch: the surrounding market is flat or declining. survey margins of error are wider here (data confidence: moderate).

Cash Flow & Affordability was scored using a measured (Zillow) home value, giving an effective price-to-income of 2.80× and tax burden of 0.40% of value: the number this category's score is actually based on, which can differ from the ACS survey value shown elsewhere on this page.

A transparent screening score, not a return forecast. Affordable, higher-yield markets can score well when demand, liquidity, low vacancy, reliable government data and a growing surrounding market support them. Categories labeled “context” use official county/place data, never presented as ZIP-level observation. ZIP and city scores are not directly comparable. See how this score works.

How this ZIP ranks: nationally & in-state

Each bar places this ZIP against all 20,132 scored ZIP Codes nationally. The marker is this ZIP and further right is more favorable to an investor; the tick is the median. Every position here is a percentile: the 0–100 scores and the grade they earn are stated once, in the card above, and this card states once where those same five numbers place this ZIP Code.

Overall Rental Investor ZIP Score
50th percentile
Cash Flow & Affordability
82nd percentile
Local Demand & Market Quality
63rd percentile
Surrounding-Market Growth county / place context
27th percentile
Stability & Risk ZIP + place context
56th percentile
← 0th percentile50th (median)100th percentile →

Percentiles are the frozen model's own numbers among scored ZIP Codes (deterministic competition ranking); an unreliable or thin-peer in-state comparison reads “Not available,” never zero. All underlying figures are ACS survey estimates with margins of error. The comparability caveat and the method link for this score are stated once, in the card above.

What went into this score: 14 national factor percentiles

Cash Flow & Affordabilityweight 25% · category score 66

Gross rental yieldZIP observation
89th
Price to incomeZIP observation
84th
Property-tax burdenZIP observation
89th
Rent as a share of incomeZIP observation
3rd

Local Demand & Market Qualityweight 30% · category score 56

Population scaleZIP observation · scale, not quality
57th
Renter-household depthZIP observation · scale, not quality
46th
Renter share of householdsZIP observation
15th
Rental vacancyZIP observation
86th
Market heat (Zillow measured)ZIP observation
79th

Surrounding-Market Growthweight 25% · category score 26

County population growthcounty context
28th
Surrounding-market growthplace / county context
24th

Stability & Riskweight 20% · category score 51

Median year builtZIP observation
84th
Surrounding-market stabilityplace / county context
43rd
ACS data confidenceZIP observation
26th

Every figure here is the frozen model’s own national percentile for one factor, read from the published ZIP dataset: 14 of the 15 factors this model defines were available for this ZIP Code. 1 of them could not be measured here (recently built share) and was left out of the average rather than filled in with a national guess. Higher is the direction the model treats as more favourable to a rental investor; population scale and renter-household depth are size, not quality. Each category score is the plain average of its own percentiles above; the overall score combines those four at the weights shown. The percentiles are published rounded to whole numbers, so averaging the printed figures lands a fraction of a point from the published score. This ZIP’s weakest category is 26, below the model’s published floor of 30, so the model applies its floor penalty and the overall score is lower than those four weighted together would be on their own. Nothing on this panel is recomputed here, and a factor percentile is not a score.

Key metrics

12,013
Population

±1,800 ±15.2% moderate

$161,800
Median home value (ACS, owner-reported)

±$22,000 ±13.8% moderate

$1,131
Median gross rent (ACS, incl. utilities)

±$200 ±17.9% moderate

8.4%
Survey gross-rent yield (proxy)

Derived from ACS estimates: no published margin of error

$72,657
Median household income

±$12,000 ±16.1% moderate

0.0%
Rental vacancy

Derived from ACS estimates: no published margin of error

13.2%
Renter share

Derived from ACS estimates: no published margin of error

0.5%
Estimated property-tax burden

Derived from ACS estimates: no published margin of error

1992
Median year built

±4 years margin in years; a share of a year number would not mean anything

32.1%
Multifamily (5+ units)

Derived from ACS estimates: no published margin of error

Data vintage: ACS 2024 5-year · data confidence: moderate. Of the 10 figures above, 5 carry the Census Bureau's published 90% margin of error, printed on the card in the figure's own units and as a share of the estimate; and 5 are ratios derived from those estimates, which the Census Bureau publishes no margin for. The bar and the band word restate that printed share in three bands: tight under ±10%, moderate ±10% to ±25%, wide ±25% and over. A median year built is given a margin in years only, because a margin stated as a share of a year number would not mean anything; the bar is full at ±40%. A wider margin does not make an area worse, only less precisely measured.

Market context

Trend context

Loading home value context…

View source data

Each point is one ACS 5-year estimate on the same 2020-Census ZCTA boundary. Adjacent releases overlap, so the release-to-release differences are not independent annual market movement.

ACS estimates by release; ± is the margin of error.
Series2017–20212018–20222019–20232020–2024
Median home value B25077$133,900 ±$24,218$146,900 ±$18,953$142,200 ±$15,391$161,800 ±$22,315
Median gross rent B25064$800 ±$115$924 ±$79$976 ±$138$1,131 ±$202
Population B0100312,279 ±1,72212,967 ±1,95912,039 ±1,91112,013 ±1,820

ACS 2021 release

2017-2021 five-year estimate

Median home value B25077
$133,900Margin of error ±$24,218
Median gross rent B25064
$800Margin of error ±$115
Population B01003
12,279Margin of error ±1,722

ACS 2022 release

2018-2022 five-year estimate

Median home value B25077
$146,900Margin of error ±$18,953
Median gross rent B25064
$924Margin of error ±$79
Population B01003
12,967Margin of error ±1,959

ACS 2023 release

2019-2023 five-year estimate

Median home value B25077
$142,200Margin of error ±$15,391
Median gross rent B25064
$976Margin of error ±$138
Population B01003
12,039Margin of error ±1,911

ACS 2024 release

2020-2024 five-year estimate

Median home value B25077
$161,800Margin of error ±$22,315
Median gross rent B25064
$1,131Margin of error ±$202
Population B01003
12,013Margin of error ±1,820

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year, table-based Summary File (ZCTA geography); tables B25077 (median value), B25064 (median gross rent), and B01003 (population); estimate + margin of error. Missing releases remain gaps and are never interpolated. Home value is owner-reported; gross rent describes renter housing stock; population is a ZCTA estimate. Dollar figures are nominal.

Measured market data

Measured observations for this ZIP Code, published beside the government survey figures above rather than replacing them. They measure different things and will legitimately disagree; the reconciliation below states on which axis, one axis at a time, instead of leaving a reader to guess. ZORI does not correct the ACS rent; neither is a better version of the other. Monthly series, revised in recent months, observed 2026-07, not live.

Why two figures for apparently the same thing differ: source, vintage, methodology and geography, stated one axis at a time.
FigureACS survey estimateZillow measured index
Typical home value$161,800±$22,000, the Census Bureau’s published 90% margin of error$203,480no published margin of error
Methodology typical home valueThe median of what owners themselves estimate their own home to be worth, across owner-occupied homes only.A smoothed index of the typical value of homes in the middle tier (35th to 65th percentile) of the local stock, whether or not they sold.
SourceU.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.Zillow Economic Research public research data.
VintageACS 2024 5-year: one estimate pooled over 2020–2024. Restated once a year, not monthly, and adjacent releases overlap.Monthly series, observed 2026-07 and revised in recent months. Not live.
Geography2020 Census ZIP Code Tabulation Area 36587.USPS ZIP code 36587: a related, but not identical, area.

The index for typical home value is $41,680 higher than the survey estimate, whose own 90% margin of error is ±$22,000: the two are separated by more than survey sampling error alone accounts for. A gap of either size is expected when the source, vintage, methodology and geography all differ, and is not evidence that either figure is wrong. Neither figure corrects the other, and no margin of error is implied for the index, which publishes none.

Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI, mid tier)$203,480
ZHVI bottom tier (5th–35th pct)$94,091
ZHVI top tier (65th–95th pct)$336,454
Market heat index61
Share of listings with a price cut26.0%
For-sale inventory29
New listings9
Median list price$300,218
Measured 3-yr value growth0.89%/yr
Measured 5-yr value growth3.52%/yr
Measured 10-yr value growth5.60%/yr
ZHVI, 2-bedroom$121,520
ZHVI, 3-bedroom$211,494
ZHVI, 4-bedroom$302,297

Measured value-growth signal: 26 of 100: this ZIP Code area ranks #14,322 of 19,419 ZIP Codes with a measured 3-year value growth rate. This is a separate national signal, published beside the overall score and deliberately not folded into it.

Source: Zillow Economic Research public research data, observation month 2026-07. Zillow keys on USPS ZIP codes; this page is a 2020 Census ZCTA, related but not identical geographies, so a Zillow value is matched to this ZCTA by code and is not a statement that the two areas are the same. Zillow is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, Compounding Estates.

Market Negotiation Leverage

Some seller leverage (21st percentile among scored ZIP Codes)

Derived from Zillow's market-heat index for this ZIP, inverted (a cooler market means more room for a buyer to negotiate). 26% of listings have had a price cut · 29 active listings. This is a cross-sectional snapshot (how this ZIP compares to every other tracked ZIP today), not a seasonal or historical baseline for this specific ZIP (no multi-year time series exists to support that claim). Not a prediction of what any specific seller will accept. See how this is calculated.

Source: Zillow Economic Research public research data. Zillow is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, Compounding Estates.

Underwrite with these as starting points

Opening a calculator pre-loads the ACS median owner value and median gross rent as a survey-level starting point; every calculator input is editable. Owner-occupied median value and renter median gross rent describe different housing stock: the median-valued home is not the typical rental, so this is a screen, not a listing, appraisal, asking rent, cap rate, or forecast. Bring your own entry price and rent.

ZIP Codes bordering 36587

7 ZIP Code areas share a land boundary with 36587 in the official Census 2020 ZCTA map, ordered by shared-boundary length, not ZIP-number proximity or driving distance. 7 of them are in CE’s ranked set and are listed below, each with its own Rental Investor ZIP Score, grade and national rank, read from the same published dataset as this page. The rest are counted here and searchable from the ZIP Code explorer. A neighbour’s score is a score for that area, never for 36587, and this list is ordered by border length, so it is not a ranking and no neighbour is called best.

Evidence, sources & limitations

Official geography: Mobile County, Mobile County. Analytical entity: the U.S. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) 36587, an approximation of the USPS ZIP delivery area, not its exact route boundaries. Model z3-measured-v1; data ACS 2024 5-year.

This ZIP Code area is primarily in Mobile County, largely unincorporated, by land-area overlap from the official Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files (not population or address share).

Populationsurvey ACS B01003 · ±15.2% margin of error
Median home value (ACS, owner-reported)survey ACS B25077 · ±13.8% margin of error
Median gross rent (ACS, incl. utilities)survey ACS B25064 · ±17.9% margin of error
Survey gross-rent yield (proxy)derived 12 * ACS B25064 / B25077 · no published margin of error
Median household incomesurvey ACS B19013 · ±16.1% margin of error
Rental vacancyderived ACS B25004 E002 / (B25003 E003 + B25004 E002) · no published margin of error
Renter sharederived ACS B25003 E003/E001 · no published margin of error
Estimated property-tax burdenderived ACS B25103 / B25077 · no published margin of error
Median year builtsurvey ACS B25035 · ±<1% margin of error
Multifamily (5+ units)derived ACS B25024 (5+ unit structures / total) · no published margin of error

Class: survey = ACS estimate (with margin of error); derived = computed from ACS. The survey gross-rent yield is a proxy (renter gross rent vs owner-occupied value, different housing stock; ACS top-codes very high values/rents) and is not a cap rate. Subscores are national percentiles among data-eligible areas; ranks are competition-ranked with deterministic ties. No vendor, listing, parcel, or school data. Not investment advice.