ZIP 95124 vs ZIP 95118

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95124 (San Jose, CA) and ZIP 95118 (San Jose, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95124 has a population of 47,082 at 2,778 people per square mile, while ZIP 95118 has 31,932 at 3,023 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 95124 reports a median household income of $185,926 against $152,682 in ZIP 95118, with per-capita income of $83,347 vs $75,191. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 61.5% in 95124 and 53.7% in 95118. Poverty rate reads 4.1% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 6.0% — 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 $1,666,300 in 95124 versus $1,494,600 in 95118, with median rent of $2,865 and $2,546 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.9% vs 61.7%. 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.