ZIP 95417 vs ZIP 95488

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95417 (Branscomb, CA) and ZIP 95488 (Westport, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95417 has a population of 297 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 95488 has 280 at 1 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 95417 reports a median household income of — against — in ZIP 95488, with per-capita income of $52,213 vs $61,888. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.0% in 95417 and 30.1% in 95488. Poverty rate reads 16.7% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 23.8% vs 0.0% — 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 — in 95417 versus — in 95488, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 96.9%. 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.