ZIP 92119 vs ZIP 91942

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92119 (San Diego, CA) and ZIP 91942 (La Mesa, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92119 has a population of 23,057 at 1,301 people per square mile, while ZIP 91942 has 38,069 at 2,506 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 92119 reports a median household income of $113,435 against $92,896 in ZIP 91942, with per-capita income of $55,325 vs $49,775. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 56.2% in 92119 and 40.9% in 91942. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 12.3%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 5.9% — 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 $879,200 in 92119 versus $775,700 in 91942, with median rent of $2,379 and $2,032 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.8% vs 45.5%. 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.