ZIP 77071 vs ZIP 77031

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77071 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77031 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77071 has a population of 25,671 at 2,218 people per square mile, while ZIP 77031 has 15,762 at 1,908 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 77071 reports a median household income of $54,139 against $47,162 in ZIP 77031, with per-capita income of $32,792 vs $26,377. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.6% in 77071 and 24.2% in 77031. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 25.6%, and unemployment 8.8% vs 8.6% — 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 $245,100 in 77071 versus $232,500 in 77031, with median rent of $1,100 and $1,087 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 51.1% vs 48.6%. 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.