ZIP 79735 vs ZIP 79744

This side-by-side compares ZIP 79735 (Fort Stockton, TX) and ZIP 79744 (Iraan, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 79735 has a population of 13,315 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 79744 has 1,362 at 1 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 79735 reports a median household income of $78,935 against $42,039 in ZIP 79744, with per-capita income of $33,190 vs $29,224. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.7% in 79735 and 23.1% in 79744. Poverty rate reads 22.4% vs 13.2%, and unemployment 2.6% 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 $174,500 in 79735 versus $101,100 in 79744, with median rent of $937 and $374 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.8% vs 66.1%. 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.