ZIP 00612 vs ZIP 00616

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00612 (Arecibo, PR) and ZIP 00616 (Bajadero, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00612 has a population of 67,010 at 383 people per square mile, while ZIP 00616 has 11,017 at 369 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 00612 reports a median household income of $24,488 against $21,846 in ZIP 00616, with per-capita income of $15,819 vs $12,443. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.9% in 00612 and 23.8% in 00616. Poverty rate reads 39.7% vs 43.2%, and unemployment 14.3% vs 18.2% — 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 $117,600 in 00612 versus $109,000 in 00616, with median rent of $510 and $655 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.1% vs 73.7%. 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.