ZIP 93304 vs ZIP 93309

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93304 (Bakersfield, CA) and ZIP 93309 (Bakersfield, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93304 has a population of 48,731 at 2,477 people per square mile, while ZIP 93309 has 58,409 at 2,124 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 93304 reports a median household income of $50,790 against $63,544 in ZIP 93309, with per-capita income of $22,005 vs $29,744. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.0% in 93304 and 19.8% in 93309. Poverty rate reads 29.0% vs 17.3%, and unemployment 10.8% vs 8.2% — 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 $240,900 in 93304 versus $320,400 in 93309, with median rent of $1,206 and $1,379 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.1% vs 47.1%. 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.