⚖️ Side by side

Kingwood vs Sugar Land

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

Should you live in Kingwood or Sugar Land? Kingwood and Sugar Land are both communities in the Greater Houston metro area. Kingwood has the lower ACS median owner-occupied home value, by about 26%. Kingwood is $301,206 against $406,600 for Sugar Land. On FEMA maps Kingwood is not one single zone and Sugar Land is Zone X (AREA WITH REDUCED FLOOD RISK DUE TO LEVEE). Every figure is sourced and linked.

Cost and Demographics

Both columns below come from the same Census ACS tables, so Kingwood and Sugar Land are measured the same way and each side links its own source.

MetricKingwoodSugar LandSource
Median owner-occupied home value (ACS)$301,206 (2023)$406,600 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median gross rent (ACS)$1,797 (2023)$1,939 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median household income$114,560 (2023)$137,511 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Population146,515 (2023)109,735 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS

Flood Zone in Each Community

FEMA maps Kingwood 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 zoneVARIES (AE, X)X (AREA WITH REDUCED FLOOD RISK DUE TO LEVEE)
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 centerKingwoodSugar LandCloser
United Airlines21 min71 minKingwood
Halliburton25 min65 minKingwood
SLB69 min25 minSugar Land
Sysco70 min25 minSugar Land
Baker Hughes67 min29 minSugar Land
ConocoPhillips68 min29 minSugar Land
McDermott International68 min29 minSugar Land
Devon Energy61 min30 minSugar Land
ExxonMobil36 min82 minKingwood
HPE36 min81 minKingwood
Houston Methodist55 min36 minSugar Land
MD Anderson56 min36 minSugar Land
Memorial Hermann54 min36 minSugar Land
Chevron47 min43 minSugar Land
NRG Energy47 min43 minSugar Land
NASA73 min73 mintie
Daikin89 min76 minSugar Land

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 Sugar Land data