ZIP 79905 vs ZIP 79903

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