ZIP 78620 vs ZIP 78619

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78620 (Dripping Springs, TX) and ZIP 78619 (Driftwood, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78620 has a population of 14,367 at 32 people per square mile, while ZIP 78619 has 3,026 at 30 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 78620 reports a median household income of $153,477 against $183,393 in ZIP 78619, with per-capita income of $70,947 vs $73,639. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 66.7% in 78620 and 62.5% in 78619. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 0.9%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 6.8% — 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 $676,500 in 78620 versus $810,600 in 78619, with median rent of $1,965 and $1,786 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.9% vs 95.6%. 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.