ZIP 93424 vs ZIP 93405

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93424 (Avila Beach, CA) and ZIP 93405 (San Luis Obispo, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93424 has a population of 1,261 at 185 people per square mile, while ZIP 93405 has 35,440 at 156 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 93424 reports a median household income of - against $60,399 in ZIP 93405, with per-capita income of $165,563 vs $35,940. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 82.6% in 93424 and 54.8% in 93405. Poverty rate reads 6.5% vs 43.5%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 9.8% - 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 $1,186,700 in 93424 versus $949,700 in 93405, with median rent of - and $2,020 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.8% vs 34.7%. 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.