ZIP 96141 vs ZIP 96145

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96141 (Homewood, CA) and ZIP 96145 (Tahoe City, CA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96141 has a population of 744 at 24 people per square mile, while ZIP 96145 has 3,161 at 33 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 96141 reports a median household income of $125,662 against $112,875 in ZIP 96145, with per-capita income of $87,983 vs $64,075. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 67.1% in 96141 and 58.0% in 96145. Poverty rate reads 3.6% vs 2.8%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 3.9% — 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 $1,049,100 in 96141 versus $962,600 in 96145, with median rent of $2,563 and $1,892 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.6% vs 74.6%. 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.