ZIP 92274 vs ZIP 92254

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92274 (Thermal, CA) and ZIP 92254 (Mecca, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92274 has a population of 19,801 at 43 people per square mile, while ZIP 92254 has 12,768 at 106 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 92274 reports a median household income of $38,654 against $48,272 in ZIP 92254, with per-capita income of $19,602 vs $19,380. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.9% in 92274 and 3.6% in 92254. Poverty rate reads 20.1% vs 16.1%, and unemployment 13.4% vs 8.4% — 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 $163,800 in 92274 versus $215,800 in 92254, with median rent of $925 and $975 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.5% vs 63.8%. 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.