ZIP 93446 vs ZIP 93405

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93446 (Paso Robles, 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 93446 has a population of 43,714 at 40 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 93446 reports a median household income of $97,943 against $60,399 in ZIP 93405, with per-capita income of $49,831 vs $35,940. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.6% in 93446 and 54.8% in 93405. Poverty rate reads 11.0% vs 43.5%, and unemployment 5.2% 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 $707,500 in 93446 versus $949,700 in 93405, with median rent of $1,966 and $2,020 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.2% 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.