ZIP 96122 vs ZIP 96129

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96122 (Portola, CA) and ZIP 96129 (Beckwourth, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96122 has a population of 3,883 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 96129 has 261 at 1 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 96122 reports a median household income of $54,205 against $52,381 in ZIP 96129, with per-capita income of $34,543 vs $32,406. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.0% in 96122 and 14.4% in 96129. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 15.3% 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 $273,700 in 96122 versus $338,600 in 96129, with median rent of $990 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.4% vs 65.8%. 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.