ZIP 77091 vs ZIP 77088

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77091 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77088 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77091 has a population of 23,472 at 1,262 people per square mile, while ZIP 77088 has 49,660 at 1,714 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 77091 reports a median household income of $35,432 against $54,411 in ZIP 77088, with per-capita income of $24,556 vs $23,498. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.1% in 77091 and 14.3% in 77088. Poverty rate reads 39.6% vs 22.7%, and unemployment 8.4% vs 9.9% — 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 $247,500 in 77091 versus $200,000 in 77088, with median rent of $1,064 and $1,237 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 35.4% vs 61.9%. 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.