ZIP 77026 vs ZIP 77020

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77026 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77020 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77026 has a population of 23,940 at 1,426 people per square mile, while ZIP 77020 has 25,464 at 1,425 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 77026 reports a median household income of $39,211 against $50,119 in ZIP 77020, with per-capita income of $19,390 vs $26,268. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.1% in 77026 and 13.9% in 77020. Poverty rate reads 30.8% vs 26.2%, and unemployment 14.4% vs 10.8% — 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 $175,000 in 77026 versus $163,300 in 77020, with median rent of $1,006 and $972 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.7% vs 53.8%. 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.