ZIP 79021 vs ZIP 79369

This side-by-side compares ZIP 79021 (Cotton Center, TX) and ZIP 79369 (Spade, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 79021 has a population of 138 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 79369 has 88 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 79021 reports a median household income of $51,094 against — in ZIP 79369, with per-capita income of $29,476 vs $44,505. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 3.3% in 79021 and 44.2% in 79369. Poverty rate reads 43.5% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 — in 79021 versus $86,700 in 79369, with median rent of $625 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 23.5% vs 100.0%. 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.