ZIP 79345 vs ZIP 79358

This side-by-side compares ZIP 79345 (Meadow, TX) and ZIP 79358 (Ropesville, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 79345 has a population of 920 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 79358 has 1,116 at 4 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 79345 reports a median household income of $73,438 against $90,333 in ZIP 79358, with per-capita income of $29,915 vs $48,357. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.6% in 79345 and 33.0% in 79358. Poverty rate reads 7.1% vs 4.6%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 4.0% — 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 $95,000 in 79345 versus $217,600 in 79358, with median rent of $746 and $1,000 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.0% vs 78.2%. 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.