ZIP 95946 vs ZIP 95975

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95946 (Penn Valley, CA) and ZIP 95975 (Rough And Ready, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95946 has a population of 9,790 at 90 people per square mile, while ZIP 95975 has 1,769 at 73 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 95946 reports a median household income of $84,795 against $103,216 in ZIP 95975, with per-capita income of $47,168 vs $47,472. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.1% in 95946 and 34.2% in 95975. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 5.8% — 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 $565,700 in 95946 versus $652,600 in 95975, with median rent of $2,221 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.7% vs 90.9%. 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.