ZIP 95319 vs ZIP 95357

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95319 (Empire, CA) and ZIP 95357 (Modesto, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95319 has a population of 1,749 at 1,083 people per square mile, while ZIP 95357 has 11,559 at 112 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 95319 reports a median household income of $45,400 against $95,707 in ZIP 95357, with per-capita income of $24,898 vs $37,360. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 6.4% in 95319 and 18.1% in 95357. Poverty rate reads 21.4% vs 11.2%, and unemployment 8.7% vs 6.7% — 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 $354,100 in 95319 versus $445,400 in 95357, with median rent of $1,150 and $2,028 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 53.2% vs 71.4%. 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.