ZIP 78557 vs ZIP 78503

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78557 (Hidalgo, TX) and ZIP 78503 (Mcallen, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78557 has a population of 12,547 at 413 people per square mile, while ZIP 78503 has 21,706 at 494 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 78557 reports a median household income of $59,441 against $53,322 in ZIP 78503, with per-capita income of $21,631 vs $28,212. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.8% in 78557 and 25.3% in 78503. Poverty rate reads 21.1% vs 25.7%, and unemployment 8.8% vs 5.6% — 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 $163,600 in 78557 versus $150,900 in 78503, with median rent of $842 and $1,110 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.2% vs 61.1%. 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.