ZIP 96021 vs ZIP 96035

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96021 (Corning, CA) and ZIP 96035 (Gerber, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96021 has a population of 16,097 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 96035 has 3,324 at 28 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 96021 reports a median household income of $59,592 against $49,760 in ZIP 96035, with per-capita income of $26,539 vs $31,072. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.1% in 96021 and 20.0% in 96035. Poverty rate reads 17.4% vs 22.5%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 4.6% - 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 $314,000 in 96021 versus $237,900 in 96035, with median rent of $949 and $1,348 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.0% vs 65.0%. 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.