ZIP 79706 vs ZIP 79701

This side-by-side compares ZIP 79706 (Midland, TX) and ZIP 79701 (Midland, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 79706 has a population of 19,571 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 79701 has 27,728 at 901 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 79706 reports a median household income of $108,059 against $57,346 in ZIP 79701, with per-capita income of $45,384 vs $31,463. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.3% in 79706 and 19.1% in 79701. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 25.6%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 3.1% - 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 $316,400 in 79706 versus $214,700 in 79701, with median rent of $1,247 and $1,220 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.6% vs 67.0%. 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.