ZIP 78061 vs ZIP 78017

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78061 (Pearsall, TX) and ZIP 78017 (Dilley, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78061 has a population of 11,031 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 78017 has 4,787 at 5 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 78061 reports a median household income of $60,247 against $59,808 in ZIP 78017, with per-capita income of $22,911 vs $19,725. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.1% in 78061 and 14.4% in 78017. Poverty rate reads 25.5% vs 15.9%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 3.3% — 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 $103,400 in 78061 versus $103,100 in 78017, with median rent of $983 and $1,258 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 56.0% vs 64.5%. 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.