ZIP 00616 vs ZIP 00612

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