ZIP 93238 vs ZIP 93285

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93238 (Kernville, CA) and ZIP 93285 (Wofford Heights, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93238 has a population of 1,490 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 93285 has 2,536 at 21 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 93238 reports a median household income of $49,950 against $40,275 in ZIP 93285, with per-capita income of $51,261 vs $38,101. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.2% in 93238 and 14.6% in 93285. Poverty rate reads 2.2% vs 20.0%, and unemployment 9.5% vs 20.7% — 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 $408,500 in 93238 versus $219,400 in 93285, with median rent of $1,691 and $911 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 78.0%. 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.