ZIP 92231 vs ZIP 92249

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92231 (Calexico, CA) and ZIP 92249 (Heber, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92231 has a population of 39,073 at 264 people per square mile, while ZIP 92249 has 7,334 at 132 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 92231 reports a median household income of $49,742 against $72,028 in ZIP 92249, with per-capita income of $20,587 vs $24,062. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.9% in 92231 and 24.1% in 92249. Poverty rate reads 19.8% vs 10.6%, and unemployment 19.4% vs 7.8% — 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 $313,400 in 92231 versus $335,600 in 92249, with median rent of $1,092 and $1,086 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 50.2% vs 68.0%. 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.