ZIP 00956 vs ZIP 00971

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00956 (Bayamon, PR) and ZIP 00971 (Guaynabo, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00956 has a population of 79,304 at 1,157 people per square mile, while ZIP 00971 has 30,986 at 750 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 00956 reports a median household income of $29,280 against $29,526 in ZIP 00971, with per-capita income of $17,742 vs $23,232. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.1% in 00956 and 32.8% in 00971. Poverty rate reads 36.9% vs 32.3%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 5.7% — 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 $139,800 in 00956 versus $173,400 in 00971, with median rent of $705 and $628 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.8% vs 72.6%. 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.