ZIP 94027 vs ZIP 94061

This side-by-side compares ZIP 94027 (Atherton, CA) and ZIP 94061 (Redwood City, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 94027 has a population of 7,089 at 527 people per square mile, while ZIP 94061 has 36,245 at 3,625 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 94027 reports a median household income of $250,001 against $146,265 in ZIP 94061, with per-capita income of $188,761 vs $75,241. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 83.2% in 94027 and 50.8% in 94061. Poverty rate reads 5.3% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 6.5% — 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 $2,000,001 in 94027 versus $1,900,500 in 94061, with median rent of $3,501 and $2,845 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.6% vs 54.0%. 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.