ZIP 76640 vs ZIP 76705

This side-by-side compares ZIP 76640 (Elm Mott, TX) and ZIP 76705 (Waco, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 76640 has a population of 3,005 at 41 people per square mile, while ZIP 76705 has 29,155 at 99 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 76640 reports a median household income of $66,641 against $58,236 in ZIP 76705, with per-capita income of $31,764 vs $30,390. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.1% in 76640 and 16.8% in 76705. Poverty rate reads 12.9% vs 19.3%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 4.4% — 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 $166,900 in 76640 versus $190,600 in 76705, with median rent of $838 and $1,000 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.2% vs 62.8%. 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.