ZIP 90045 vs ZIP 90245

This side-by-side compares ZIP 90045 (Los Angeles, CA) and ZIP 90245 (El Segundo, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 90045 has a population of 39,480 at 1,420 people per square mile, while ZIP 90245 has 16,654 at 1,177 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 90045 reports a median household income of $135,032 against $150,737 in ZIP 90245, with per-capita income of $71,235 vs $81,385. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 63.4% in 90045 and 62.7% in 90245. Poverty rate reads 10.9% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 6.0% — 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 $1,399,100 in 90045 versus $1,587,500 in 90245, with median rent of $2,897 and $2,556 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 47.2% vs 42.5%. 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.