The Heights vs Sugar Land
Greater Houston, TX: ACS figures, FEMA flood zone, and commute for both
Cost and Demographics
Both columns below come from the same Census ACS tables, and each side links its own source.The Heights's figures are a population-weighted average of ZCTA medians (ZIP/ZCTA proxy), while Sugar Land's are a figure whose derivation method is not recorded. Where the derivations differ, the columns sit side by side for context, not as a like-for-like comparison. This pair's home-value figures carry a specific limitation: a derivation method is not recorded.
| Metric | The Heights | Sugar Land | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median owner-occupied home value (ACS) | $609,300 (2023) | $406,600 (2023) | US Census ACS, US Census ACS |
| Median gross rent (ACS) | $1,567 (2023) | $1,939 (2023) | US Census ACS, US Census ACS |
| Median household income | $142,414 (2023) | $137,511 (2023) | US Census ACS, US Census ACS |
| Population | 40,155 (2023) | 109,735 (2023) | US Census ACS, US Census ACS |
Flood Zone in Each Community
FEMA maps The Heights as more than one flood zone and Sugar Land as Zone X (AREA WITH REDUCED FLOOD RISK DUE TO LEVEE). Where the zone varies, whether flood insurance is federally required depends on the specific address rather than the community.
| FEMA flood zone | VARIES (AE, X) | X (AREA WITH REDUCED FLOOD RISK DUE TO LEVEE) |
| Special Flood Hazard Area | varies | No |
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 center | The Heights | Sugar Land | Closer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron | 9 min | 43 min | The Heights |
| NRG Energy | 10 min | 43 min | The Heights |
| Memorial Hermann | 13 min | 36 min | The Heights |
| Houston Methodist | 14 min | 36 min | The Heights |
| MD Anderson | 14 min | 36 min | The Heights |
| Devon Energy | 17 min | 30 min | The Heights |
| Halliburton | 24 min | 65 min | The Heights |
| SLB | 26 min | 25 min | Sugar Land |
| Sysco | 28 min | 25 min | Sugar Land |
| Baker Hughes | 27 min | 29 min | The Heights |
| ConocoPhillips | 27 min | 29 min | The Heights |
| McDermott International | 27 min | 29 min | The Heights |
| United Airlines | 30 min | 71 min | The Heights |
| HPE | 46 min | 81 min | The Heights |
| ExxonMobil | 47 min | 82 min | The Heights |
| NASA | 58 min | 73 min | The Heights |
| Daikin | 70 min | 76 min | The Heights |
Straight-line distance converted at ~27mph effective speed. Estimates are not measured drive times. Real I-10, 290 and 59 traffic can exceed them.
Questions people ask about this pair
About 19 straight-line miles between their map centroids, a sample-point floor rather than a door-to-door promise. Converted at ~27mph effective speed that is an estimated 42-53 minute one-way drive. See how the estimate is built
Both home-value figures are in the table above ($609,300 for The Heights, $406,600 for Sugar Land, 2023 ACS 5-year estimates), but they are not directly comparable: The Heights's is a population-weighted average of ZCTA medians (ZIP/ZCTA proxy), while Sugar Land's is a figure whose derivation method is not recorded. Because the figures are not measured on the same geography basis, no like-for-like percentage gap is claimed between them.
HOUSTON ISD (TEA B) serves The Heights; FORT BEND ISD (TEA B) serves Sugar Land. District letters are TEA 2024-25 accountability ratings: a district letter averages dozens of campuses and is never a rating of the schools one specific address is zoned to.
This site does not rank safety between communities. Crime varies block to block, and one number for a whole community hides that spread for both. The right question is address-level, and official incident data can answer it in about ten minutes. Read the ten-minute safety research method