ZIP 78521 vs ZIP 78578

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78521 (Brownsville, TX) and ZIP 78578 (Port Isabel, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78521 has a population of 93,818 at 389 people per square mile, while ZIP 78578 has 12,516 at 81 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 78521 reports a median household income of $44,509 against $51,880 in ZIP 78578, with per-capita income of $19,594 vs $37,249. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.7% in 78521 and 28.6% in 78578. Poverty rate reads 30.2% vs 27.0%, and unemployment 6.9% vs 3.6% — 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 $99,700 in 78521 versus $196,200 in 78578, with median rent of $889 and $749 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.3% vs 74.6%. 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.