ZIP 78613 vs ZIP 78717

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78613 (Cedar Park, TX) and ZIP 78717 (Austin, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78613 has a population of 65,099 at 893 people per square mile, while ZIP 78717 has 22,538 at 674 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 78613 reports a median household income of $125,487 against $145,325 in ZIP 78717, with per-capita income of $57,371 vs $73,886. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 55.8% in 78613 and 68.9% in 78717. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 2.4% — 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 $496,200 in 78613 versus $652,200 in 78717, with median rent of $1,815 and $1,867 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.9% vs 51.3%. 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.