ZIP 92653 vs ZIP 92656

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92653 (Laguna Hills, CA) and ZIP 92656 (Aliso Viejo, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92653 has a population of 29,291 at 1,687 people per square mile, while ZIP 92656 has 49,046 at 2,301 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 92653 reports a median household income of $133,194 against $137,639 in ZIP 92656, with per-capita income of $67,451 vs $67,396. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.8% in 92653 and 57.4% in 92656. Poverty rate reads 8.0% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 4.3% — 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 $1,063,300 in 92653 versus $903,200 in 92656, with median rent of $2,745 and $2,841 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.5% vs 57.5%. 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.