ZIP 77521 vs ZIP 77520

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