ZIP 78881 vs ZIP 78870

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78881 (Sabinal, TX) and ZIP 78870 (Knippa, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78881 has a population of 2,335 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 78870 has 984 at 3 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 78881 reports a median household income of $35,104 against $54,167 in ZIP 78870, with per-capita income of $20,576 vs $29,024. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.6% in 78881 and 23.3% in 78870. Poverty rate reads 32.1% vs 22.3%, and unemployment 7.9% vs 7.8% - 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 $69,800 in 78881 versus $128,600 in 78870, with median rent of $556 and $836 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.7% vs 78.0%. 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.