ZIP 00738 vs ZIP 00740

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00738 (Fajardo, PR) and ZIP 00740 (Puerto Real, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00738 has a population of 34,922 at 457 people per square mile, while ZIP 00740 has 2,071 at 1,877 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 00738 reports a median household income of $25,531 against $26,027 in ZIP 00740, with per-capita income of $15,488 vs $12,204. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.9% in 00738 and 27.4% in 00740. Poverty rate reads 39.8% vs 49.2%, and unemployment 15.1% vs 14.7% — 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 $121,600 in 00738 versus $120,000 in 00740, with median rent of $625 and $620 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.0% vs 61.0%. 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.