ZIP 00656 vs ZIP 00698

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00656 (Guayanilla, PR) and ZIP 00698 (Yauco, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00656 has a population of 21,481 at 256 people per square mile, while ZIP 00698 has 41,782 at 232 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 00656 reports a median household income of $24,065 against $24,310 in ZIP 00698, with per-capita income of $13,271 vs $14,095. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.1% in 00656 and 28.6% in 00698. Poverty rate reads 45.5% vs 41.9%, and unemployment 16.6% vs 12.2% — 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 $87,400 in 00656 versus $100,500 in 00698, with median rent of $454 and $551 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.9% vs 72.9%. 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.