ZIP 70508 vs ZIP 70503

This side-by-side compares ZIP 70508 (Lafayette, LA) and ZIP 70503 (Lafayette, LA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 70508 has a population of 34,810 at 537 people per square mile, while ZIP 70503 has 27,816 at 907 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 70508 reports a median household income of $86,005 against $94,688 in ZIP 70503, with per-capita income of $52,135 vs $67,108. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.3% in 70508 and 56.5% in 70503. Poverty rate reads 12.7% vs 9.5%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 2.3% - 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 $305,300 in 70508 versus $341,300 in 70503, with median rent of $1,239 and $1,150 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.9% vs 65.7%. 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.