ZIP 77035 vs ZIP 77096

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77035 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77096 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77035 has a population of 35,896 at 2,427 people per square mile, while ZIP 77096 has 32,628 at 2,099 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 77035 reports a median household income of $58,686 against $82,852 in ZIP 77096, with per-capita income of $34,739 vs $53,078. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.2% in 77035 and 54.3% in 77096. Poverty rate reads 22.2% vs 13.7%, and unemployment 8.5% vs 4.2% — 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 $283,800 in 77035 versus $432,600 in 77096, with median rent of $1,179 and $1,278 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 40.5% vs 44.9%. 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.