ZIP 95982 vs ZIP 95953

This side-by-side compares ZIP 95982 (Sutter, CA) and ZIP 95953 (Live Oak, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 95982 has a population of 3,221 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 95953 has 10,718 at 36 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 95982 reports a median household income of $96,224 against $74,786 in ZIP 95953, with per-capita income of $45,521 vs $29,159. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.6% in 95982 and 15.5% in 95953. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 15.4%, and unemployment 8.8% vs 6.7% — 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 $417,000 in 95982 versus $376,900 in 95953, with median rent of $1,750 and $868 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.1% vs 70.1%. 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.