78579 Zip Code Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for the zip code 78579, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

78579 is a zip code in Hidalgo County, Texas, which covers Southeast Hidalgo, with a total population of 3,176 people.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in the 78579 zip code. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in 78579.

The estimated population of people living in 78579 is 3,176, with a median age of 37.

We can look back at data from previous years to see how the population in the 78579 area has changed over the last 5 years.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
3,176
 -42.9% -33.49%
2020
5,562
 -4.69% -
2019
5,836
+3.44%
-
2018
5,642
+18.16%
-
2017
4,775
 - -

Population of 78579 by Race and Ethnicity

How much has the race and ethnicity of the population in the 78579 zip code changed? The US Census Bureau gives us a few defined types that the population is broken down into.

Let's look at the total numbers and also the change over the last 5 years.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
0.1%
0%
 0.00%
Black/African American
0%
0%
 0.00%
Native
0%
0%
 0.00%
Hispanic
99.9%
100%
 -0.10%
Asian
0%
0%
 0.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
0%
0%
 0.00%
Other
0%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for anybody studying the 78579 zip for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of 78579 by Age and Gender

We can also monitor the change of the age and gender in the 78579 zip code to track track trends in the population over time.

We can see how the population in 78579 has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37 +23.75% 25.4 -5.22% 44.5 +36.5%
2020 29.9 0% 26.8 -7.9% 32.6 +5.5%
2019 29.9 +8.73% 29.1 +10.65% 30.9 +5.82%
2018 27.5 +3% 26.3 +0.38% 29.2 +4.29%
2017 26.7 - 26.2 - 28 -

The median age of the 78579 zip gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population in the 78579 area, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 385 -24.33% 451 -72.94% 219 164
10 to 19 275 -13.07% 311 31.92% 182 230
20 to 29 606 -27.52% 493 -29.89% 418 299
30 to 39 254 -18.87% 248 -57.3% 138 71
40 to 49 29 +300.4% 253 +46.13% 146 372
50 to 59 461 -122.54% 371 -3.11% 42 275
60 to 69 118 +103.21% 136 +123.64% 264 351
70+ 228 -134.46% 156 -133.42%

Median Household Income

The latest median household income for the 78579 zip code is $0.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less.

The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

The median household income for 78579 is not available and shows as $0. This is because there is no data from the latest ACS survey, and it can happen when the population is too small or the area too rural to get a representative sample.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for 78579.

The median income by age is not available for 78579.

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in the 78579 zip code, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in 78579, and then dividing that number by the total number of households.

This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of 78579 is currently $41,791.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

0.00% of households in 78579 are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of 78579 against other zip codes.

  • Less than $24,999
    46.45%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    16.19%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    15.85%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.30%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    8.20%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    0.00%
  • $200,000 or more
    0.00%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in 78579 is $12,031.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of 78579 by the total population of 78579.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people living in the 78579 area, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in 78579 to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    21.08%
  • Bachelor's degree
    12.56%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    11.18%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    51.04%
  • Less than high school diploma
    4.15%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in 78579 that are over the age of 16.

Currently, the total population of the 78579 zip over the age of 16 is 2,532.

Of those people, a total of 71.10% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in 78579 is 63.40%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate. Here's how that breaks down for the 78579 zip code.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 151 35.10% 0.00%
20 to 24 years 443 78.80% 0.00%
25 to 29 years 274 77.70% 34.70%
30 to 34 years 34 100.00% 0.00%
35 to 44 years 342 84.80% 14.10%
45 to 54 years 562 100.00% 14.10%
55 to 59 years 106 100.00% 0.00%
60 to 64 years 240 80.00% 0.00%
65 to 74 years 376 0.30% 0.00%
75 years and over 4 0.00% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in 78579. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau (which we mentioned earlier in this article).

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 834 79.10% 12.60%
Black or African American 0 0.00% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0 0.00% 0.00%
Asian 0 0.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 965 51.90% 14.00%
Two or more races 733 87.20% 6.40%
Hispanic or Latino 2,530 71.10% 10.80%
Not Hispanic or Latino 2 50.00% 0.00%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations for people living in the 78579 area as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in 78579 is 1,606, with median earnings of $8,378.00.

Women in 78579 are earning approximately 55.70% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 1,606 $8,378.00
Male 552 $12,435.00
Female 1,054 $6,928.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings for 78579 even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 179 $7,238.00
Business and Financial 0 $0.00
Computer and Mathematical 13 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 79 $0.00
Legal 0 $0.00
Educational and Library 37 $0.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 0 $0.00
Healthcare Practitioners 96 $0.00
Healthcare Support 192 $15,159.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 0 $0.00
Law Enforcement 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 233 $21,372.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 77 $0.00
Personal Care and Service 0 $0.00
Sales 264 $7,037.00
Office and Administrative Support 211 $5,452.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 79 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 73 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 36 $0.00
Production 0 $0.00
Transportation and Material Moving 37 $0.00

Occupations by Gender

Now we can also look at the occupations by category for 78579 when it is broken down by male and female.

This lets us see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings for 78579.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 70 $0.00 109 $0.00
Business and Financial 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Computer and Mathematical 13 $0.00 0 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 0 $0.00 79 $0.00
Legal 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Educational and Library 0 $0.00 37 $0.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Healthcare Practitioners 0 $0.00 96 $0.00
Healthcare Support 7 $0.00 185 $15,298.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Law Enforcement 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 83 $0.00 150 $21,319.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 45 $0.00 32 $0.00
Personal Care and Service 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Sales 109 $0.00 155 $6,575.00
Office and Administrative Support 0 $0.00 211 $5,452.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 79 $0.00 0 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 73 $0.00 0 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 36 $0.00 0 $0.00
Production 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Transportation and Material Moving 37 $0.00 0 $0.00

Households and Family Size

A household is defined by the US Census Bureau as a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 902 households in 78579, with an average household size of 3.52 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 851 families living in the 78579 zip code with an average family size of 3.6 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each, that live in 78579:

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 477 115 259 51
Average Household Size 3.53 2.57 4.4 0
Total Families 477 115 259 0
Average Household Size 3.53 2.57 4.19 0

Poverty

Of the 851 families living in 78579, 47.20% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in 78579:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 1,032 housing units in 78579.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 902 87.40%
Vacant 130 12.60%

10.08% of the total 1,032 housing units in 78579 are rental units. This is approximately 104 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 798 are occupied by the owner - or 77.33% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in 78579 is $549.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in 78579 that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    0
  • Less than $500
    0
  • $500 to $999
    104
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    0
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    0
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    0
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in 78579 is $0.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in 78579 that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    331
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    190
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    0
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    199
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    37
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    0
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    0
  • $1,000,000 or more
    41

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in 78579. The chart below shows the number of properties in 78579 that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    0
  • 1940 to 1949
    0
  • 1950 to 1959
    41
  • 1960 to 1969
    0
  • 1970 to 1979
    57
  • 1980 to 1989
    204
  • 1990 to 1999
    226
  • 2000 to 2009
    232
  • 2010 to 2013
    272
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in 78579 that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    14
  • 1 vehicle available
    126
  • 2 vehicles available
    517
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    245

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in 78579 get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in 78579 that commute to work in a particular way.

28.3 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in 78579.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    0
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    227
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    156
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    442
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    190
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    166
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    74
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    46
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    0
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    110
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    0
  • 90 or more minutes
    86

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for 78579 in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

States in 78579

If you want to see how the population and demographics of 78579 compare to other zip codes in Texas, check out the list of all Texas zip codes below: