ZIP 85344 vs ZIP 92242

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85344 (Parker, AZ) and ZIP 92242 (Earp, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85344 has a population of 9,147 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 92242 has 1,539 at 19 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 85344 reports a median household income of $54,583 against $37,500 in ZIP 92242, with per-capita income of $34,650 vs $32,556. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.6% in 85344 and 11.1% in 92242. Poverty rate reads 16.9% vs 17.7%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 10.7% — 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 $216,400 in 85344 versus $128,100 in 92242, with median rent of $807 and $842 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.9% vs 82.3%. 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.