ZIP 77098 vs ZIP 77046

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77098 (Houston, TX) and ZIP 77046 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77098 has a population of 13,076 at 2,844 people per square mile, while ZIP 77046 has 1,196 at 3,953 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 77098 reports a median household income of $116,650 against $131,932 in ZIP 77046, with per-capita income of $100,638 vs $101,757. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 80.8% in 77098 and 77.5% in 77046. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 13.7%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $787,300 in 77098 versus $286,500 in 77046, with median rent of $1,892 and $1,889 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 34.1% vs 48.9%. 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.