ZIP 78938 vs ZIP 78940

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78938 (Ellinger, TX) and ZIP 78940 (Fayetteville, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78938 has a population of 471 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 78940 has 2,098 at 6 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 78938 reports a median household income of $61,250 against $89,157 in ZIP 78940, with per-capita income of $33,548 vs $51,352. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.2% in 78938 and 31.6% in 78940. Poverty rate reads 6.3% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 6.7% — 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 $201,400 in 78938 versus $292,200 in 78940, with median rent of $688 and $919 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.5% vs 94.6%. 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.