ZIP 92604 vs ZIP 92606

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92604 (Irvine, CA) and ZIP 92606 (Irvine, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92604 has a population of 26,853 at 3,070 people per square mile, while ZIP 92606 has 21,495 at 1,713 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 92604 reports a median household income of $133,869 against $135,598 in ZIP 92606, with per-capita income of $61,294 vs $59,803. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.7% in 92604 and 66.2% in 92606. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 11.4%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 3.8% — 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 $1,058,000 in 92604 versus $1,141,100 in 92606, with median rent of $2,832 and $2,868 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.4% vs 35.9%. 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.