ZIP 95123 vs ZIP 95136

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95123 (San Jose, CA) and ZIP 95136 (San Jose, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95123 has a population of 62,228 at 2,900 people per square mile, while ZIP 95136 has 42,989 at 3,556 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 95123 reports a median household income of $144,276 against $142,433 in ZIP 95136, with per-capita income of $63,071 vs $64,121. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.8% in 95123 and 48.6% in 95136. Poverty rate reads 5.9% vs 9.4%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 4.2% — 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 $1,166,800 in 95123 versus $1,144,000 in 95136, with median rent of $2,976 and $2,762 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.7% vs 58.9%. 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.