ZIP 77994 vs ZIP 78159

This side-by-side compares ZIP 77994 (Westhoff, TX) and ZIP 78159 (Smiley, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 77994 has a population of 321 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 78159 has 1,023 at 3 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 77994 reports a median household income of $87,589 against $35,083 in ZIP 78159, with per-capita income of $31,951 vs $21,052. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.4% in 77994 and 7.6% in 78159. Poverty rate reads 30.7% vs 22.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 7.9% — 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 77994 versus $132,600 in 78159, with median rent of $1,304 and $921 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.6% vs 68.9%. 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.