ZIP 77096 vs ZIP 77035

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