ZIP 78561 vs ZIP 78549

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78561 (Lasara, TX) and ZIP 78549 (Hargill, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78561 has a population of 779 at 165 people per square mile, while ZIP 78549 has 990 at 14 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 78561 reports a median household income of $102,528 against $19,222 in ZIP 78549, with per-capita income of $30,433 vs $13,704. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 78561 and 14.2% in 78549. Poverty rate reads 13.6% vs 66.3%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 11.5% — 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 $55,500 in 78561 versus $75,400 in 78549, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 89.5%. 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.