ZIP 95945 vs ZIP 95949

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95945 (Grass Valley, CA) and ZIP 95949 (Grass Valley, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95945 has a population of 25,199 at 152 people per square mile, while ZIP 95949 has 19,741 at 55 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 95945 reports a median household income of $65,989 against $98,181 in ZIP 95949, with per-capita income of $42,149 vs $50,821. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.3% in 95945 and 33.2% in 95949. Poverty rate reads 14.6% vs 10.4%, and unemployment 6.3% 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 $539,500 in 95945 versus $550,800 in 95949, with median rent of $1,452 and $1,902 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.8% vs 87.1%. 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.