ZIP 71203 vs ZIP 71291

This side-by-side compares ZIP 71203 (Monroe, LA) and ZIP 71291 (West Monroe, LA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 71203 has a population of 37,105 at 121 people per square mile, while ZIP 71291 has 32,644 at 195 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 71203 reports a median household income of $52,326 against $71,639 in ZIP 71291, with per-capita income of $31,000 vs $36,727. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.0% in 71203 and 32.5% in 71291. Poverty rate reads 20.7% vs 13.7%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 4.9% - 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 $185,100 in 71203 versus $227,000 in 71291, with median rent of $1,042 and $1,014 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 56.3% vs 66.4%. 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.