ZIP 78539 vs ZIP 78504

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78539 (Edinburg, TX) and ZIP 78504 (Mcallen, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78539 has a population of 30,783 at 905 people per square mile, while ZIP 78504 has 48,703 at 1,064 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 78539 reports a median household income of $66,967 against $81,905 in ZIP 78504, with per-capita income of $36,953 vs $36,517. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.6% in 78539 and 39.5% in 78504. Poverty rate reads 21.4% vs 12.3%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 7.4% — 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 $214,500 in 78539 versus $218,900 in 78504, with median rent of $1,077 and $1,173 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 54.9% vs 69.9%. 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.