ZIP 92612 vs ZIP 92614

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92612 (Irvine, CA) and ZIP 92614 (Irvine, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92612 has a population of 27,522 at 1,750 people per square mile, while ZIP 92614 has 24,748 at 2,162 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 92612 reports a median household income of $106,226 against $122,821 in ZIP 92614, with per-capita income of $56,813 vs $62,555. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.0% in 92612 and 66.5% in 92614. Poverty rate reads 20.9% vs 15.1%, and unemployment 6.9% vs 5.8% — 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 $993,800 in 92612 versus $1,076,700 in 92614, with median rent of $2,872 and $2,944 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 26.1% vs 38.7%. 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.