ZIP 76687 vs ZIP 76642

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