ZIP 92120 vs ZIP 92115

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92120 (San Diego, CA) and ZIP 92115 (San Diego, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92120 has a population of 26,317 at 1,502 people per square mile, while ZIP 92115 has 58,560 at 3,479 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 92120 reports a median household income of $120,661 against $79,199 in ZIP 92115, with per-capita income of $60,176 vs $37,310. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 60.1% in 92120 and 40.5% in 92115. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 20.9%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 7.1% — 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 $924,900 in 92120 versus $799,200 in 92115, with median rent of $2,457 and $1,979 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.0% vs 40.0%. 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.