ZIP 92249 vs ZIP 92231

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