ZIP 77520 vs ZIP 77521

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77520 (Baytown, TX) and ZIP 77521 (Baytown, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77520 has a population of 36,489 at 589 people per square mile, while ZIP 77521 has 49,507 at 461 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 77520 reports a median household income of $54,278 against $73,629 in ZIP 77521, with per-capita income of $26,365 vs $32,886. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.7% in 77520 and 16.9% in 77521. Poverty rate reads 20.2% vs 15.4%, and unemployment 11.1% vs 9.7% — 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 $150,700 in 77520 versus $231,400 in 77521, with median rent of $1,226 and $1,390 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 52.2% vs 58.2%. 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.