⚖️ Side by side

Kingwood vs River Oaks

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

Should you live in Kingwood or River Oaks? Kingwood and River Oaks are both communities in the Greater Houston metro area. Kingwood has the lower ACS median owner-occupied home value, by about 62%. Kingwood is $301,206 against $795,278 for River Oaks. On FEMA maps Kingwood 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 Kingwood and River Oaks are measured the same way and each side links its own source.

MetricKingwoodRiver OaksSource
Median owner-occupied home value (ACS)$301,206 (2023)$795,278 (2023)US Census ACS
Median gross rent (ACS)$1,797 (2023)$1,865 (2023)US Census ACS
Median household income$114,560 (2023)$105,888 (2023)US Census ACS
Population146,515 (2023)42,931 (2023)US Census ACS

Flood Zone in Each Community

FEMA maps Kingwood 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 centerKingwoodRiver OaksCloser
Houston Methodist55 min6 minRiver Oaks
Memorial Hermann54 min6 minRiver Oaks
Chevron47 min7 minRiver Oaks
MD Anderson56 min7 minRiver Oaks
NRG Energy47 min8 minRiver Oaks
Devon Energy61 min17 minRiver Oaks
United Airlines21 min38 minKingwood
Halliburton25 min31 minKingwood
SLB69 min25 minRiver Oaks
Baker Hughes67 min27 minRiver Oaks
ConocoPhillips68 min27 minRiver Oaks
McDermott International68 min27 minRiver Oaks
Sysco70 min27 minRiver Oaks
ExxonMobil36 min54 minKingwood
HPE36 min54 minKingwood
NASA73 min53 minRiver Oaks
Daikin89 min75 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 Kingwood data · Full River Oaks data