ZIP 93405 vs ZIP 93401

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93405 (San Luis Obispo, CA) and ZIP 93401 (San Luis Obispo, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93405 has a population of 35,440 at 156 people per square mile, while ZIP 93401 has 28,033 at 155 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 93405 reports a median household income of $60,399 against $96,824 in ZIP 93401, with per-capita income of $35,940 vs $62,643. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.8% in 93405 and 55.9% in 93401. Poverty rate reads 43.5% vs 15.4%, and unemployment 9.8% vs 4.1% - 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 $949,700 in 93405 versus $973,000 in 93401, with median rent of $2,020 and $1,912 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 34.7% vs 47.9%. 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.