ZIP 00971 vs ZIP 00956

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