ZIP 77486 vs ZIP 77430

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