ZIP 78612 vs ZIP 78617

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78612 (Cedar Creek, TX) and ZIP 78617 (Del Valle, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78612 has a population of 11,457 at 47 people per square mile, while ZIP 78617 has 22,210 at 124 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 78612 reports a median household income of $95,496 against $71,640 in ZIP 78617, with per-capita income of $35,814 vs $31,000. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.9% in 78612 and 18.8% in 78617. Poverty rate reads 12.1% vs 13.4%, and unemployment 6.8% vs 5.9% — 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 $309,200 in 78612 versus $281,700 in 78617, with median rent of $1,481 and $1,529 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.2% vs 79.9%. 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.