ZIP 95686 vs ZIP 95690

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95686 (Thornton, CA) and ZIP 95690 (Walnut Grove, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95686 has a population of 1,405 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 95690 has 2,533 at 17 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 95686 reports a median household income of $52,109 against $90,104 in ZIP 95690, with per-capita income of $26,647 vs $35,315. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.3% in 95686 and 29.3% in 95690. Poverty rate reads 19.2% vs 11.1%, and unemployment 7.9% vs 3.5% — 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 $448,900 in 95686 versus $682,200 in 95690, with median rent of $884 and $1,533 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.2% vs 46.2%. 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.