ZIP 77617 vs ZIP 77623

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77617 (Gilchrist, TX) and ZIP 77623 (High Island, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77617 has a population of 73 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 77623 has 448 at 11 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 77617 reports a median household income of $75,703 against $88,375 in ZIP 77623, with per-capita income of $35,689 vs $37,154. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.7% in 77617 and 19.6% in 77623. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — 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 — in 77617 versus — in 77623, with median rent of — and $566 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 91.3%. 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.