ZIP 79072 vs ZIP 79311

This side-by-side compares ZIP 79072 (Plainview, TX) and ZIP 79311 (Abernathy, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 79072 has a population of 28,849 at 29 people per square mile, while ZIP 79311 has 3,445 at 8 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 79072 reports a median household income of $47,255 against $81,985 in ZIP 79311, with per-capita income of $24,793 vs $33,409. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.5% in 79072 and 26.5% in 79311. Poverty rate reads 23.3% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 0.9% — 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 $114,000 in 79072 versus $176,800 in 79311, with median rent of $846 and $868 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 56.4% vs 76.0%. 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.