ZIP 77430 vs ZIP 77486

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77430 (Damon, TX) and ZIP 77486 (West Columbia, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77430 has a population of 2,283 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 77486 has 6,851 at 56 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 77430 reports a median household income of $85,364 against $74,857 in ZIP 77486, with per-capita income of $42,942 vs $32,018. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.1% in 77430 and 21.3% in 77486. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 11.1% vs 5.0% — 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 $309,600 in 77430 versus $240,200 in 77486, with median rent of $1,474 and $983 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.2% vs 77.8%. 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.