ZIP 94596 vs ZIP 94595

This side-by-side compares ZIP 94596 (Walnut Creek, CA) and ZIP 94595 (Walnut Creek, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 94596 has a population of 20,037 at 1,299 people per square mile, while ZIP 94595 has 16,425 at 1,179 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 94596 reports a median household income of $135,635 against $100,552 in ZIP 94595, with per-capita income of $88,540 vs $86,558. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 71.2% in 94596 and 69.6% in 94595. Poverty rate reads 6.5% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 6.3% vs 5.9% — 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 $1,277,800 in 94596 versus $860,600 in 94595, with median rent of $2,574 and $2,557 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.6% vs 81.9%. 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.