ZIP 77401 vs ZIP 77081

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77401 (Bellaire, TX) and ZIP 77081 (Houston, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77401 has a population of 17,491 at 1,808 people per square mile, while ZIP 77081 has 47,860 at 5,954 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 77401 reports a median household income of $243,750 against $43,251 in ZIP 77081, with per-capita income of $119,406 vs $22,062. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 83.5% in 77401 and 18.0% in 77081. Poverty rate reads 2.4% vs 31.8%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 5.2% — 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 $1,036,800 in 77401 versus $274,000 in 77081, with median rent of $2,672 and $1,014 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.9% vs 6.6%. 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.