ZIP 00728 vs ZIP 00717

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00728 (Ponce, PR) and ZIP 00717 (Ponce, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00728 has a population of 44,908 at 1,108 people per square mile, while ZIP 00717 has 18,457 at 3,391 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 00728 reports a median household income of $23,031 against $13,602 in ZIP 00717, with per-capita income of $13,920 vs $13,139. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.2% in 00728 and 31.3% in 00717. Poverty rate reads 49.4% vs 51.9%, and unemployment 8.2% vs 16.6% — 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 $111,000 in 00728 versus $113,200 in 00717, with median rent of $568 and $519 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.6% vs 46.0%. 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.