ZIP 78661 vs ZIP 78622

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78661 (Prairie Lea, TX) and ZIP 78622 (Fentress, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78661 has a population of 335 at 51 people per square mile, while ZIP 78622 has 296 at 138 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 78661 reports a median household income of $82,896 against — in ZIP 78622, with per-capita income of $26,002 vs $26,388. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.0% in 78661 and 21.9% in 78622. Poverty rate reads 29.2% vs 22.1%, and unemployment 4.3% 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 $209,700 in 78661 versus $160,900 in 78622, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.4% vs 89.7%. 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.