ZIP 77021 vs ZIP 77004

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77021 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77004 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77021 has a population of 26,042 at 1,654 people per square mile, while ZIP 77004 has 32,692 at 2,184 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 77021 reports a median household income of $45,574 against $71,199 in ZIP 77004, with per-capita income of $35,887 vs $49,347. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.0% in 77021 and 57.3% in 77004. Poverty rate reads 29.0% vs 28.2%, and unemployment 11.7% vs 11.6% — 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 $227,900 in 77021 versus $412,800 in 77004, with median rent of $1,236 and $1,249 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 41.8% vs 38.2%. 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.