ZIP 76642 vs ZIP 76687

This side-by-side compares ZIP 76642 (Groesbeck, TX) and ZIP 76687 (Thornton, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 76642 has a population of 7,057 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 76687 has 1,466 at 4 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 76642 reports a median household income of $62,243 against $73,323 in ZIP 76687, with per-capita income of $31,620 vs $32,545. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.9% in 76642 and 18.5% in 76687. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 6.0% — 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 $189,000 in 76642 versus $254,500 in 76687, with median rent of $866 and $973 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.6% vs 83.5%. 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.