ZIP 92821 vs ZIP 92835

This side-by-side compares ZIP 92821 (Brea, CA) and ZIP 92835 (Fullerton, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 92821 has a population of 35,533 at 1,299 people per square mile, while ZIP 92835 has 24,010 at 1,539 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 92821 reports a median household income of $123,629 against $143,817 in ZIP 92835, with per-capita income of $55,860 vs $70,407. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.5% in 92821 and 55.2% in 92835. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 6.0% — 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 92821 versus $1,052,500 in 92835, with median rent of $2,348 and $2,380 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.5% vs 73.7%. 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.