ZIP 95365 vs ZIP 95340

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95365 (Planada, CA) and ZIP 95340 (Merced, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95365 has a population of 4,985 at 127 people per square mile, while ZIP 95340 has 33,931 at 330 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 95365 reports a median household income of $39,741 against $71,193 in ZIP 95340, with per-capita income of $20,134 vs $35,660. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 3.5% in 95365 and 26.8% in 95340. Poverty rate reads 28.9% vs 18.3%, and unemployment 7.4% vs 11.6% — 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 $266,400 in 95365 versus $399,100 in 95340, with median rent of $949 and $1,317 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 45.1% vs 57.2%. 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.