ZIP 00949 vs ZIP 00952

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00949 (Toa Baja, PR) and ZIP 00952 (Sabana Seca, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00949 has a population of 82,278 at 1,807 people per square mile, while ZIP 00952 has 10,008 at 3,123 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 00949 reports a median household income of $34,563 against $22,288 in ZIP 00952, with per-capita income of $19,992 vs $13,847. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.3% in 00949 and 20.5% in 00952. Poverty rate reads 31.0% vs 40.0%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 10.2% — 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 $152,300 in 00949 versus $123,800 in 00952, with median rent of $721 and $551 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.0% vs 62.7%. 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.