ZIP 95928 vs ZIP 95926

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95928 (Chico, CA) and ZIP 95926 (Chico, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95928 has a population of 36,511 at 103 people per square mile, while ZIP 95926 has 37,725 at 1,904 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 95928 reports a median household income of $64,949 against $61,920 in ZIP 95926, with per-capita income of $42,563 vs $35,893. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.3% in 95928 and 45.7% in 95926. Poverty rate reads 23.9% vs 26.7%, and unemployment 8.2% vs 5.5% — 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 $503,100 in 95928 versus $473,600 in 95926, with median rent of $1,456 and $1,468 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 42.4% vs 40.5%. 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.