ZIP 00731 vs ZIP 00780

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00731 (Ponce, PR) and ZIP 00780 (Coto Laurel, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00731 has a population of 15,524 at 126 people per square mile, while ZIP 00780 has 13,800 at 265 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 00731 reports a median household income of $18,736 against $27,967 in ZIP 00780, with per-capita income of $12,053 vs $16,044. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.3% in 00731 and 31.9% in 00780. Poverty rate reads 56.2% vs 37.6%, and unemployment 13.4% vs 13.5% — 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 $88,700 in 00731 versus $119,800 in 00780, with median rent of $424 and $730 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.4% vs 83.5%. 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.