ZIP 78123 vs ZIP 78130

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78123 (Mc Queeney, TX) and ZIP 78130 (New Braunfels, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78123 has a population of 2,397 at 236 people per square mile, while ZIP 78130 has 59,546 at 249 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 78123 reports a median household income of $97,553 against $83,064 in ZIP 78130, with per-capita income of $46,866 vs $42,935. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.4% in 78123 and 36.3% in 78130. Poverty rate reads 10.3% vs 7.7%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 4.4% — 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 $238,500 in 78123 versus $323,200 in 78130, with median rent of — and $1,659 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.3% vs 65.9%. 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.