ZIP 71270 vs ZIP 71245

This side-by-side compares ZIP 71270 (Ruston, LA) and ZIP 71245 (Grambling, LA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 71270 has a population of 30,887 at 58 people per square mile, while ZIP 71245 has 4,718 at 259 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 71270 reports a median household income of $36,791 against - in ZIP 71245, with per-capita income of $25,231 vs $11,018. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.4% in 71270 and 35.4% in 71245. Poverty rate reads 34.7% vs 52.0%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 6.5% - 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 $222,300 in 71270 versus $164,300 in 71245, with median rent of $827 and $714 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 50.0% vs 28.9%. 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.