ZIP 78738 vs ZIP 78736

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78738 (Austin, TX) and ZIP 78736 (Austin, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78738 has a population of 12,134 at 276 people per square mile, while ZIP 78736 has 6,946 at 93 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 78738 reports a median household income of $183,048 against $93,805 in ZIP 78736, with per-capita income of $99,621 vs $64,865. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 75.0% in 78738 and 57.2% in 78736. Poverty rate reads 3.8% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 6.2% — 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 $916,300 in 78738 versus $573,100 in 78736, with median rent of $1,983 and $1,830 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 66.0%. 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.