ZIP 95685 vs ZIP 95601

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95685 (Sutter Creek, CA) and ZIP 95601 (Amador City, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95685 has a population of 4,680 at 37 people per square mile, while ZIP 95601 has 198 at 44 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 95685 reports a median household income of $83,878 against $94,023 in ZIP 95601, with per-capita income of $54,427 vs $55,422. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 95685 and 28.4% in 95601. Poverty rate reads 9.5% vs 4.1%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 4.1% — 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 $569,100 in 95685 versus $448,700 in 95601, with median rent of $1,579 and $1,708 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.0% vs 75.7%. 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.