ZIP 96035 vs ZIP 96090

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96035 (Gerber, CA) and ZIP 96090 (Tehama, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96035 has a population of 3,324 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 96090 has 421 at 158 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 96035 reports a median household income of $49,760 against $70,893 in ZIP 96090, with per-capita income of $31,072 vs $35,297. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.0% in 96035 and 13.9% in 96090. Poverty rate reads 22.5% vs 2.7%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 0.0% - 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 $237,900 in 96035 versus $318,900 in 96090, with median rent of $1,348 and $988 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.0% vs 74.5%. 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.