ZIP 76009 vs ZIP 76061

This side-by-side compares ZIP 76009 (Alvarado, TX) and ZIP 76061 (Lillian, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 76009 has a population of 19,759 at 78 people per square mile, while ZIP 76061 has 152 at 39 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 76009 reports a median household income of $79,755 against — in ZIP 76061, with per-capita income of $31,067 vs —. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.6% in 76009 and 0.0% in 76061. Poverty rate reads 15.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $245,400 in 76009 versus — in 76061, with median rent of $1,323 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.6% vs 100.0%. 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.