ZIP 95436 vs ZIP 95471

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95436 (Forestville, CA) and ZIP 95471 (Rio Nido, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95436 has a population of 5,418 at 91 people per square mile, while ZIP 95471 has 522 at 140 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 95436 reports a median household income of $109,531 against — in ZIP 95471, with per-capita income of $55,743 vs $54,188. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.7% in 95436 and 66.9% in 95471. Poverty rate reads 5.5% vs 22.1%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 5.6% — 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 $739,600 in 95436 versus $603,400 in 95471, with median rent of $1,937 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.1% vs 76.2%. 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.