ZIP 94501 vs ZIP 94502

This side-by-side compares ZIP 94501 (Alameda, CA) and ZIP 94502 (Alameda, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 94501 has a population of 60,212 at 2,935 people per square mile, while ZIP 94502 has 13,600 at 1,959 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 94501 reports a median household income of $127,906 against $180,938 in ZIP 94502, with per-capita income of $74,108 vs $80,024. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 59.0% in 94501 and 73.7% in 94502. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 4.5% — 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 $1,250,300 in 94501 versus $1,204,200 in 94502, with median rent of $2,437 and $3,501 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 44.0% vs 86.0%. 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.