ZIP 77511 vs ZIP 77517

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77511 (Alvin, TX) and ZIP 77517 (Santa Fe, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77511 has a population of 46,627 at 114 people per square mile, while ZIP 77517 has 5,315 at 102 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 77511 reports a median household income of $74,939 against $88,567 in ZIP 77517, with per-capita income of $32,501 vs $36,213. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.9% in 77511 and 17.2% in 77517. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 5.8%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 15.3% — 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 $235,700 in 77511 versus $314,100 in 77517, with median rent of $1,271 and $971 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.3% vs 84.4%. 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.