ZIP 96790 vs ZIP 96768

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96790 (Kula, HI) and ZIP 96768 (Makawao, HI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96790 has a population of 8,065 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 96768 has 17,668 at 160 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 96790 reports a median household income of $100,693 against $100,391 in ZIP 96768, with per-capita income of $49,577 vs $45,729. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.5% in 96790 and 33.1% in 96768. Poverty rate reads 11.6% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 6.9% — 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 $1,037,700 in 96790 versus $946,700 in 96768, with median rent of $2,126 and $1,813 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.8% vs 63.7%. 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.