ZIP 94608 vs ZIP 94609

This side-by-side compares ZIP 94608 (Emeryville, CA) and ZIP 94609 (Oakland, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 94608 has a population of 28,019 at 3,964 people per square mile, while ZIP 94609 has 20,596 at 4,655 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 94608 reports a median household income of $120,239 against $107,834 in ZIP 94609, with per-capita income of $76,394 vs $79,485. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.3% in 94608 and 65.1% in 94609. Poverty rate reads 17.1% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 7.2% vs 6.6% — 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 $849,600 in 94608 versus $1,207,700 in 94609, with median rent of $2,661 and $2,222 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 31.1% vs 32.9%. 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.