ZIP 78002 vs ZIP 78252

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78002 (Atascosa, TX) and ZIP 78252 (San Antonio, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78002 has a population of 8,255 at 77 people per square mile, while ZIP 78252 has 7,372 at 82 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 78002 reports a median household income of $66,744 against $85,518 in ZIP 78252, with per-capita income of $30,894 vs $29,767. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.7% in 78002 and 19.8% in 78252. Poverty rate reads 13.6% vs 5.7%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 4.5% — 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 $210,700 in 78002 versus $250,600 in 78252, with median rent of $1,202 and $1,549 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.8% vs 86.0%. 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.