ZIP 90402 vs ZIP 90403

This side-by-side compares ZIP 90402 (Santa Monica, CA) and ZIP 90403 (Santa Monica, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 90402 has a population of 12,250 at 2,360 people per square mile, while ZIP 90403 has 24,525 at 6,633 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 90402 reports a median household income of $159,100 against $121,925 in ZIP 90403, with per-capita income of $142,508 vs $96,523. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 77.9% in 90402 and 75.7% in 90403. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 11.3%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 7.2% — 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 $2,000,001 in 90402 versus $1,548,900 in 90403, with median rent of $2,691 and $2,463 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.9% vs 26.2%. 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.