ZIP 93622 vs ZIP 93640

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93622 (Firebaugh, CA) and ZIP 93640 (Mendota, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93622 has a population of 9,581 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 93640 has 11,880 at 41 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 93622 reports a median household income of $48,021 against $49,813 in ZIP 93640, with per-capita income of $16,683 vs $15,246. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.8% in 93622 and 4.8% in 93640. Poverty rate reads 35.8% vs 26.7%, and unemployment 18.1% vs 11.9% — 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 $244,400 in 93622 versus $286,200 in 93640, with median rent of $968 and $982 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.4% vs 42.8%. 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.