ZIP 78629 vs ZIP 78614

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78629 (Gonzales, TX) and ZIP 78614 (Cost, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78629 has a population of 11,887 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 78614 has 456 at 4 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 78629 reports a median household income of $59,521 against — in ZIP 78614, with per-capita income of $27,422 vs $24,250. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.7% in 78629 and 26.0% in 78614. Poverty rate reads 18.1% vs 21.0%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $206,700 in 78629 versus — in 78614, with median rent of $829 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.4% vs 81.6%. 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.