ZIP 95340 vs ZIP 95341

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95340 (Merced, CA) and ZIP 95341 (Merced, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95340 has a population of 33,931 at 330 people per square mile, while ZIP 95341 has 32,967 at 85 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 95340 reports a median household income of $71,193 against $57,342 in ZIP 95341, with per-capita income of $35,660 vs $19,180. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.8% in 95340 and 9.3% in 95341. Poverty rate reads 18.3% vs 27.9%, and unemployment 11.6% vs 12.7% — 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 $399,100 in 95340 versus $334,400 in 95341, with median rent of $1,317 and $1,242 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.2% vs 38.5%. 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.