ZIP 71346 vs ZIP 71302

This side-by-side compares ZIP 71346 (Lecompte, LA) and ZIP 71302 (Alexandria, LA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 71346 has a population of 3,040 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 71302 has 15,049 at 87 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 71346 reports a median household income of $48,240 against $34,669 in ZIP 71302, with per-capita income of $24,721 vs $22,397. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.5% in 71346 and 13.8% in 71302. Poverty rate reads 16.5% vs 32.4%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 4.3% - 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 $173,800 in 71346 versus $110,000 in 71302, with median rent of $710 and $850 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.2% vs 56.6%. 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.