ZIP 77642 vs ZIP 77640

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77642 (Port Arthur, TX) and ZIP 77640 (Port Arthur, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77642 has a population of 37,111 at 728 people per square mile, while ZIP 77640 has 16,875 at 169 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 77642 reports a median household income of $42,950 against $50,973 in ZIP 77640, with per-capita income of $24,940 vs $29,587. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.6% in 77642 and 15.0% in 77640. Poverty rate reads 31.8% vs 23.2%, and unemployment 7.8% vs 9.6% — 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 $104,700 in 77642 versus $109,600 in 77640, with median rent of $948 and $1,254 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 53.0% vs 67.2%. 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.