ZIP 76861 vs ZIP 76905

This side-by-side compares ZIP 76861 (Miles, TX) and ZIP 76905 (San Angelo, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 76861 has a population of 1,995 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 76905 has 11,335 at 21 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 76861 reports a median household income of $85,714 against $84,712 in ZIP 76905, with per-capita income of $34,739 vs $31,164. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.9% in 76861 and 21.7% in 76905. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 2.7% — 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 $218,200 in 76861 versus $163,900 in 76905, with median rent of $866 and $1,544 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.6% vs 71.4%. 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.