ZIP 78610 vs ZIP 78640

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78610 (Buda, TX) and ZIP 78640 (Kyle, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78610 has a population of 23,502 at 98 people per square mile, while ZIP 78640 has 42,954 at 181 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 78610 reports a median household income of $119,698 against $90,075 in ZIP 78640, with per-capita income of $49,752 vs $36,864. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.5% in 78610 and 29.3% in 78640. Poverty rate reads 4.5% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 3.2% — 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 $408,000 in 78610 versus $330,400 in 78640, with median rent of $1,867 and $1,730 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.8% vs 71.0%. 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.