ZIP 78572 vs ZIP 78577

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78572 (Mission, TX) and ZIP 78577 (Pharr, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78572 has a population of 75,221 at 375 people per square mile, while ZIP 78577 has 70,840 at 861 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 78572 reports a median household income of $54,298 against $52,770 in ZIP 78577, with per-capita income of $25,886 vs $21,281. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.4% in 78572 and 18.8% in 78577. Poverty rate reads 22.6% vs 27.6%, and unemployment 7.3% vs 7.1% — 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 $147,300 in 78572 versus $122,100 in 78577, with median rent of $902 and $1,034 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.0% vs 59.0%. 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.