ZIP 93458 vs ZIP 93436

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93458 (Santa Maria, CA) and ZIP 93436 (Lompoc, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93458 has a population of 55,431 at 782 people per square mile, while ZIP 93436 has 54,017 at 95 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 93458 reports a median household income of $75,257 against $80,097 in ZIP 93436, with per-capita income of $21,855 vs $33,734. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.8% in 93458 and 18.0% in 93436. Poverty rate reads 19.6% vs 14.3%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 6.7% - 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 $511,800 in 93458 versus $504,000 in 93436, with median rent of $1,895 and $1,653 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 42.9% vs 54.7%. 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.