ZIP 94618 vs ZIP 94705

This side-by-side compares ZIP 94618 (Oakland, CA) and ZIP 94705 (Berkeley, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 94618 has a population of 16,046 at 2,554 people per square mile, while ZIP 94705 has 12,762 at 1,491 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 94618 reports a median household income of $201,780 against $167,970 in ZIP 94705, with per-capita income of $121,544 vs $103,731. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 86.4% in 94618 and 79.8% in 94705. Poverty rate reads 4.5% vs 10.3%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 5.7% — 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 $1,753,100 in 94618 versus $1,992,800 in 94705, with median rent of $2,580 and $2,441 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.4% vs 59.4%. 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.