ZIP 94401 vs ZIP 94402

This side-by-side compares ZIP 94401 (San Mateo, CA) and ZIP 94402 (San Mateo, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 94401 has a population of 34,429 at 4,168 people per square mile, while ZIP 94402 has 23,981 at 1,904 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 94401 reports a median household income of $122,227 against $172,522 in ZIP 94402, with per-capita income of $63,426 vs $109,498. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.3% in 94401 and 68.6% in 94402. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 4.0% — 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 $1,184,500 in 94401 versus $2,000,001 in 94402, with median rent of $2,762 and $3,501 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.4% vs 58.4%. 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.