ZIP 95117 vs ZIP 95128

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95117 (San Jose, CA) and ZIP 95128 (San Jose, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95117 has a population of 30,067 at 4,522 people per square mile, while ZIP 95128 has 34,836 at 3,446 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 95117 reports a median household income of $116,348 against $131,152 in ZIP 95128, with per-capita income of $67,458 vs $79,147. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.9% in 95117 and 52.2% in 95128. Poverty rate reads 10.3% vs 9.9%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 3.9% — 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 $1,520,700 in 95117 versus $1,262,600 in 95128, with median rent of $2,355 and $2,589 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 35.6% vs 44.7%. 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.