ZIP 92603 vs ZIP 92604

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92603 (Irvine, CA) and ZIP 92604 (Irvine, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92603 has a population of 20,184 at 588 people per square mile, while ZIP 92604 has 26,853 at 3,070 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 92603 reports a median household income of $173,094 against $133,869 in ZIP 92604, with per-capita income of $91,080 vs $61,294. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 75.5% in 92603 and 65.7% in 92604. Poverty rate reads 7.5% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 3.1% 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 $1,931,700 in 92603 versus $1,058,000 in 92604, with median rent of $3,392 and $2,832 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 55.0% vs 63.4%. 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.