ZIP 77028 vs ZIP 77016

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77028 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77016 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77028 has a population of 16,808 at 708 people per square mile, while ZIP 77016 has 26,989 at 1,077 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 77028 reports a median household income of $38,357 against $47,677 in ZIP 77016, with per-capita income of $19,366 vs $21,237. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.5% in 77028 and 11.9% in 77016. Poverty rate reads 33.4% vs 24.5%, and unemployment 16.3% vs 13.0% — 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 $121,100 in 77028 versus $125,000 in 77016, with median rent of $1,154 and $1,210 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 56.9% vs 61.2%. 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.