ZIP 77541 vs ZIP 77531

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77541 (Freeport, TX) and ZIP 77531 (Clute, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77541 has a population of 17,412 at 55 people per square mile, while ZIP 77531 has 15,639 at 306 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 77541 reports a median household income of $66,507 against $73,240 in ZIP 77531, with per-capita income of $31,687 vs $36,928. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.2% in 77541 and 17.3% in 77531. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 8.2% — 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 $169,600 in 77541 versus $260,800 in 77531, with median rent of $1,185 and $1,178 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.2% vs 52.3%. 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.