ZIP 94603 vs ZIP 94621

This side-by-side compares ZIP 94603 (Oakland, CA) and ZIP 94621 (Oakland, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 94603 has a population of 31,403 at 3,717 people per square mile, while ZIP 94621 has 29,870 at 1,483 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 94603 reports a median household income of $76,723 against $52,049 in ZIP 94621, with per-capita income of $27,661 vs $24,854. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.7% in 94603 and 13.5% in 94621. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 19.8%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 10.3% — 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 $614,700 in 94603 versus $543,700 in 94621, with median rent of $1,842 and $1,551 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 47.9% vs 36.4%. 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.