ZIP 78631 vs ZIP 78618

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