ZIP 93004 vs ZIP 93036

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93004 (Ventura, CA) and ZIP 93036 (Oxnard, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93004 has a population of 29,149 at 1,598 people per square mile, while ZIP 93036 has 41,691 at 1,032 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 93004 reports a median household income of $114,012 against $101,445 in ZIP 93036, with per-capita income of $49,046 vs $36,542. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.2% in 93004 and 23.7% in 93036. Poverty rate reads 8.5% vs 12.2%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 6.6% — 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 $800,900 in 93004 versus $678,000 in 93036, with median rent of $2,393 and $2,310 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.3% vs 51.9%. 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.