ZIP 00736 vs ZIP 00739

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00736 (Cayey, PR) and ZIP 00739 (Cidra, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00736 has a population of 51,532 at 361 people per square mile, while ZIP 00739 has 39,678 at 485 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 00736 reports a median household income of $29,971 against $29,463 in ZIP 00739, with per-capita income of $18,843 vs $16,781. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.2% in 00736 and 27.6% in 00739. Poverty rate reads 36.7% vs 35.1%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 6.0% — 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 $150,000 in 00736 versus $154,100 in 00739, with median rent of $569 and $555 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.1% vs 66.6%. 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.