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Cypress vs River Oaks

Greater Houston, TX: ACS figures, FEMA flood zone, and commute for both

Should you live in Cypress or River Oaks? Cypress and River Oaks are both communities in the Greater Houston metro area. Cypress has the lower ACS median owner-occupied home value, by about 54%. Cypress is $364,996 against $795,278 for River Oaks. On FEMA maps Cypress is not one single zone and River Oaks is Zone X (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD). Every figure is sourced and linked.

Cost and Demographics

Both columns below come from the same Census ACS tables, so Cypress and River Oaks are measured the same way and each side links its own source.

MetricCypressRiver OaksSource
Median owner-occupied home value (ACS)$364,996 (2023)$795,278 (2023)US Census ACS
Median gross rent (ACS)$1,803 (2023)$1,865 (2023)US Census ACS
Median household income$128,399 (2023)$105,888 (2023)US Census ACS
Population208,149 (2023)42,931 (2023)US Census ACS

Flood Zone in Each Community

FEMA maps Cypress as more than one flood zone and River Oaks as Zone X (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD). Where the zone varies, whether flood insurance is federally required depends on the specific address rather than the community.

FEMA flood zoneVARIES (AE, X)X (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD)
Special Flood Hazard AreavariesNo

Each designation was sampled at the community centroid and at four points about a mile out; "varies" means those samples disagreed, so the community genuinely has no single zone. Check a specific address on the FEMA Map Service Center before drawing an insurance conclusion either way.

Commute to Job Centers from Each

Estimated one-way minutes from each community's centroid to every major Houston employer campus, so the same commute is priced from both sides.

Job centerCypressRiver OaksCloser
Houston Methodist57 min6 minRiver Oaks
Memorial Hermann57 min6 minRiver Oaks
Chevron55 min7 minRiver Oaks
MD Anderson58 min7 minRiver Oaks
NRG Energy56 min8 minRiver Oaks
Devon Energy36 min17 minRiver Oaks
Daikin24 min75 minCypress
SLB35 min25 minRiver Oaks
Baker Hughes30 min27 minRiver Oaks
ConocoPhillips31 min27 minRiver Oaks
McDermott International31 min27 minRiver Oaks
Sysco34 min27 minRiver Oaks
Halliburton48 min31 minRiver Oaks
United Airlines49 min38 minRiver Oaks
HPE40 min54 minCypress
ExxonMobil41 min54 minCypress
NASA104 min53 minRiver Oaks

Straight-line distance converted at ~45mph effective speed. Estimates are not measured drive times. Real I-10, 290 and 59 traffic can exceed them.

Want this scored against your actual constraints? Run the match engine →. It weighs commute, cost, housing and risk instead of leaving you to eyeball two columns.

Full Cypress data · Full River Oaks data