ZIP 78118 vs ZIP 78117

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78118 (Karnes City, TX) and ZIP 78117 (Hobson, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78118 has a population of 3,976 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 78117 has 545 at 4 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 78118 reports a median household income of $60,711 against — in ZIP 78117, with per-capita income of $34,771 vs $47,346. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.5% in 78118 and 34.6% in 78117. Poverty rate reads 23.9% vs 0.8%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 10.3% — 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 $103,700 in 78118 versus $323,800 in 78117, with median rent of $666 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.8% vs 90.4%. 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.