ZIP 90003 vs ZIP 90044

This side-by-side compares ZIP 90003 (Los Angeles, CA) and ZIP 90044 (Los Angeles, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 90003 has a population of 66,266 at 7,205 people per square mile, while ZIP 90044 has 89,779 at 6,748 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 90003 reports a median household income of $56,030 against $53,302 in ZIP 90044, with per-capita income of $18,796 vs $21,191. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.2% in 90003 and 11.7% in 90044. Poverty rate reads 25.0% vs 26.1%, and unemployment 9.1% vs 11.2% — 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 $576,600 in 90003 versus $613,900 in 90044, with median rent of $1,537 and $1,477 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 27.2% vs 31.1%. 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.