ZIP 90026 vs ZIP 90017

This side-by-side compares ZIP 90026 (Los Angeles, CA) and ZIP 90017 (Los Angeles, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 90026 has a population of 67,869 at 6,204 people per square mile, while ZIP 90017 has 23,768 at 12,635 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 90026 reports a median household income of $87,334 against $52,717 in ZIP 90017, with per-capita income of $56,772 vs $35,477. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.4% in 90026 and 34.9% in 90017. Poverty rate reads 15.3% vs 34.0%, and unemployment 7.8% vs 7.4% — 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 $1,199,500 in 90026 versus $692,300 in 90017, with median rent of $1,929 and $1,818 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 23.5% vs 5.7%. 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.