ZIP 77089 vs ZIP 77034

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77089 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77034 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77089 has a population of 48,685 at 1,422 people per square mile, while ZIP 77034 has 33,678 at 947 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 77089 reports a median household income of $88,140 against $58,217 in ZIP 77034, with per-capita income of $36,810 vs $25,913. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.5% in 77089 and 13.4% in 77034. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 21.2%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 7.3% — 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 $250,900 in 77089 versus $197,200 in 77034, with median rent of $1,475 and $1,208 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.3% vs 51.0%. 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.