ZIP 40217 vs ZIP 40208

This side-by-side compares ZIP 40217 (Louisville, KY) and ZIP 40208 (Louisville, KY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 40217 has a population of 12,507 at 2,010 people per square mile, while ZIP 40208 has 13,227 at 2,076 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 40217 reports a median household income of $69,114 against $39,560 in ZIP 40208, with per-capita income of $56,978 vs $25,569. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.0% in 40217 and 35.8% in 40208. Poverty rate reads 14.4% vs 32.0%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 7.5% — 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 $233,800 in 40217 versus $188,900 in 40208, with median rent of $1,175 and $997 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.7% vs 26.2%. 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.