ZIP 79903 vs ZIP 79905

This side-by-side compares ZIP 79903 (El Paso, TX) and ZIP 79905 (El Paso, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 79903 has a population of 18,451 at 2,335 people per square mile, while ZIP 79905 has 26,036 at 1,551 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 79903 reports a median household income of $37,155 against $25,721 in ZIP 79905, with per-capita income of $22,192 vs $14,709. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.4% in 79903 and 9.5% in 79905. Poverty rate reads 28.7% vs 44.6%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 9.0% — 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 $128,400 in 79903 versus $106,800 in 79905, with median rent of $898 and $674 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.2% vs 48.3%. 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.