ZIP 90250 vs ZIP 90260

This side-by-side compares ZIP 90250 (Hawthorne, CA) and ZIP 90260 (Lawndale, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 90250 has a population of 93,193 at 5,375 people per square mile, while ZIP 90260 has 34,924 at 5,031 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 90250 reports a median household income of $78,331 against $87,825 in ZIP 90260, with per-capita income of $36,597 vs $34,425. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.9% in 90250 and 22.0% in 90260. Poverty rate reads 14.7% vs 12.2%, and unemployment 7.8% vs 9.1% — 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 $874,600 in 90250 versus $801,800 in 90260, with median rent of $1,783 and $1,967 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 31.9% vs 42.6%. 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.