ZIP 40517 vs ZIP 40502

This side-by-side compares ZIP 40517 (Lexington, KY) and ZIP 40502 (Lexington, KY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 40517 has a population of 35,227 at 2,203 people per square mile, while ZIP 40502 has 25,709 at 1,379 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 40517 reports a median household income of $53,670 against $76,948 in ZIP 40502, with per-capita income of $35,316 vs $67,728. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 41.0% in 40517 and 68.0% in 40502. Poverty rate reads 21.6% vs 9.7%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 3.5% — 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 $216,900 in 40517 versus $517,900 in 40502, with median rent of $1,136 and $1,089 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 35.7% vs 59.7%. 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.