ZIP 85042 vs ZIP 85040

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85042 (Phoenix, AZ) and ZIP 85040 (Phoenix, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85042 has a population of 40,962 at 1,052 people per square mile, while ZIP 85040 has 29,352 at 1,114 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 85042 reports a median household income of $88,717 against $60,727 in ZIP 85040, with per-capita income of $41,283 vs $25,719. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.9% in 85042 and 15.4% in 85040. Poverty rate reads 15.9% vs 23.2%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 4.8% — 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 $398,000 in 85042 versus $329,800 in 85040, with median rent of $1,668 and $1,259 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.6% vs 47.9%. 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.