ZIP 00985 vs ZIP 00983

This side-by-side compares ZIP 00985 (Carolina, PR) and ZIP 00983 (Carolina, PR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 00985 has a population of 36,553 at 1,735 people per square mile, while ZIP 00983 has 39,234 at 4,373 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 00985 reports a median household income of $33,863 against $35,638 in ZIP 00983, with per-capita income of $19,235 vs $20,279. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.1% in 00985 and 32.8% in 00983. Poverty rate reads 28.3% vs 31.5%, and unemployment 12.3% vs 11.4% — 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 $148,800 in 00985 versus $159,900 in 00983, with median rent of $601 and $637 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.0% vs 64.8%. 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.