ZIP 78653 vs ZIP 78724

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78653 (Manor, TX) and ZIP 78724 (Austin, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78653 has a population of 16,375 at 60 people per square mile, while ZIP 78724 has 21,696 at 339 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 78653 reports a median household income of $93,900 against $77,926 in ZIP 78724, with per-capita income of $38,737 vs $34,533. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.6% in 78653 and 31.6% in 78724. Poverty rate reads 13.0% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 6.4% — 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 $358,000 in 78653 versus $344,000 in 78724, with median rent of $1,595 and $1,649 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.9% vs 60.6%. 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.