ZIP 93534 vs ZIP 93551

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93534 (Lancaster, CA) and ZIP 93551 (Palmdale, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93534 has a population of 39,341 at 856 people per square mile, while ZIP 93551 has 50,798 at 268 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 93534 reports a median household income of $61,866 against $119,801 in ZIP 93551, with per-capita income of $27,504 vs $43,996. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.7% in 93534 and 30.7% in 93551. Poverty rate reads 18.3% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 8.0% vs 5.8% — 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 $375,200 in 93534 versus $585,100 in 93551, with median rent of $1,627 and $2,299 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 37.3% vs 78.8%. 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.