ZIP 92656 vs ZIP 92637

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92656 (Aliso Viejo, CA) and ZIP 92637 (Laguna Woods, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92656 has a population of 49,046 at 2,301 people per square mile, while ZIP 92637 has 16,012 at 1,764 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 92656 reports a median household income of $137,639 against $59,269 in ZIP 92637, with per-capita income of $67,396 vs $53,507. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 57.4% in 92656 and 50.9% in 92637. Poverty rate reads 5.0% vs 14.2%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 7.3% — 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 $903,200 in 92656 versus $394,600 in 92637, with median rent of $2,841 and $2,328 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.5% vs 71.6%. 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.