ZIP 93923 vs ZIP 93940

This side-by-side compares ZIP 93923 (Carmel, CA) and ZIP 93940 (Monterey, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 93923 has a population of 12,073 at 36 people per square mile, while ZIP 93940 has 31,615 at 596 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 93923 reports a median household income of $142,474 against $106,044 in ZIP 93940, with per-capita income of $108,086 vs $70,882. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.9% in 93923 and 53.2% in 93940. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 9.3%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 7.2% — 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 $1,767,800 in 93923 versus $1,099,300 in 93940, with median rent of $2,136 and $2,364 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.7% vs 41.3%. 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.