ZIP 96097 vs ZIP 96038

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96097 (Yreka, CA) and ZIP 96038 (Grenada, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96097 has a population of 10,031 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 96038 has 589 at 13 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 96097 reports a median household income of $53,059 against $59,435 in ZIP 96038, with per-capita income of $35,459 vs $32,796. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.1% in 96097 and 13.0% in 96038. Poverty rate reads 16.5% vs 22.4%, and unemployment 8.3% vs 17.1% - 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 $277,600 in 96097 versus $439,500 in 96038, with median rent of $997 and $936 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.1% vs 72.6%. 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.