ZIP 93442 vs ZIP 93402

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93442 (Morro Bay, CA) and ZIP 93402 (Los Osos, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93442 has a population of 10,789 at 93 people per square mile, while ZIP 93402 has 14,318 at 190 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 93442 reports a median household income of $95,623 against $109,090 in ZIP 93402, with per-capita income of $63,155 vs $57,026. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.8% in 93442 and 53.7% in 93402. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 5.1% - 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 $918,700 in 93442 versus $806,800 in 93402, with median rent of $1,855 and $2,047 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.9% vs 73.0%. 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.