ZIP 92544 vs ZIP 92543

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92544 (Hemet, CA) and ZIP 92543 (Hemet, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92544 has a population of 44,734 at 127 people per square mile, while ZIP 92543 has 33,555 at 735 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 92544 reports a median household income of $73,596 against $49,396 in ZIP 92543, with per-capita income of $30,016 vs $27,698. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.4% in 92544 and 12.6% in 92543. Poverty rate reads 16.9% vs 18.6%, and unemployment 8.2% vs 9.5% — 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 $404,500 in 92544 versus $278,500 in 92543, with median rent of $1,627 and $1,423 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.8% vs 57.2%. 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.