ZIP 77044 vs ZIP 77049

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77044 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77049 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77044 has a population of 30,949 at 306 people per square mile, while ZIP 77049 has 28,521 at 447 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 77044 reports a median household income of $95,000 against $62,971 in ZIP 77049, with per-capita income of $38,219 vs $25,444. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.2% in 77044 and 14.4% in 77049. Poverty rate reads 13.8% vs 20.1%, and unemployment 7.0% vs 8.4% — 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 $294,200 in 77044 versus $217,600 in 77049, with median rent of $1,577 and $1,587 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.9% vs 67.9%. 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.