ZIP 00773 vs ZIP 00738

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00773 (Luquillo, PR) and ZIP 00738 (Fajardo, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00773 has a population of 20,068 at 319 people per square mile, while ZIP 00738 has 34,922 at 457 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 00773 reports a median household income of $24,225 against $25,531 in ZIP 00738, with per-capita income of $16,377 vs $15,488. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.2% in 00773 and 28.9% in 00738. Poverty rate reads 44.8% vs 39.8%, and unemployment 17.6% vs 15.1% — 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 $138,500 in 00773 versus $121,600 in 00738, with median rent of $504 and $625 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.9% vs 67.0%. 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.