ZIP 95949 vs ZIP 95602

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95949 (Grass Valley, CA) and ZIP 95602 (Auburn, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95949 has a population of 19,741 at 55 people per square mile, while ZIP 95602 has 17,509 at 137 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 95949 reports a median household income of $98,181 against $97,466 in ZIP 95602, with per-capita income of $50,821 vs $55,831. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.2% in 95949 and 33.6% in 95602. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 5.6% vs 3.2% — 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 $550,800 in 95949 versus $688,500 in 95602, with median rent of $1,902 and $1,864 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.1% vs 80.1%. 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.