ZIP 78618 vs ZIP 78631

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78618 (Doss, TX) and ZIP 78631 (Harper, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78618 has a population of 324 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 78631 has 2,395 at 3 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 78618 reports a median household income of $81,528 against $78,560 in ZIP 78631, with per-capita income of $54,024 vs $35,226. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.2% in 78618 and 24.0% in 78631. Poverty rate reads 19.7% vs 11.1%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 0.6% — 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 $349,300 in 78618 versus $351,600 in 78631, with median rent of — and $1,304 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.3% vs 84.2%. 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.