ZIP 70053 vs ZIP 70130

This side-by-side compares ZIP 70053 (Gretna, LA) and ZIP 70130 (New Orleans, LA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 70053 has a population of 16,499 at 1,854 people per square mile, while ZIP 70130 has 14,064 at 2,578 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 70053 reports a median household income of $39,950 against $80,212 in ZIP 70130, with per-capita income of $27,614 vs $71,545. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.8% in 70053 and 63.9% in 70130. Poverty rate reads 28.0% vs 17.8%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 4.4% - 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 $241,300 in 70053 versus $562,800 in 70130, with median rent of $1,060 and $1,473 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.6% vs 38.1%. 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.