ZIP 78644 vs ZIP 78648

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78644 (Lockhart, TX) and ZIP 78648 (Luling, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78644 has a population of 17,081 at 35 people per square mile, while ZIP 78648 has 7,683 at 20 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 78644 reports a median household income of $74,709 against $57,621 in ZIP 78648, with per-capita income of $31,228 vs $31,099. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.6% in 78644 and 12.2% in 78648. Poverty rate reads 13.1% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 4.1% — 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 $279,800 in 78644 versus $217,500 in 78648, with median rent of $1,155 and $1,038 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.9% vs 69.6%. 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.