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Memorial vs River Oaks

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

Should you live in Memorial or River Oaks? Memorial and River Oaks are both communities in the Greater Houston metro area. River Oaks has the lower ACS median owner-occupied home value, by about 32%. Memorial is $1,164,400 against $795,278 for River Oaks. On FEMA maps Memorial 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 Memorial and River Oaks are measured the same way and each side links its own source.

MetricMemorialRiver OaksSource
Median owner-occupied home value (ACS)$1,164,400 (2023)$795,278 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median gross rent (ACS)$1,796 (2023)$1,865 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median household income$142,039 (2023)$105,888 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Population37,647 (2023)42,931 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS

Flood Zone in Each Community

FEMA maps Memorial 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 centerMemorialRiver OaksCloser
Devon Energy5 min17 minMemorial
Houston Methodist17 min6 minRiver Oaks
Memorial Hermann17 min6 minRiver Oaks
Chevron18 min7 minRiver Oaks
MD Anderson17 min7 minRiver Oaks
NRG Energy19 min8 minRiver Oaks
SLB14 min25 minMemorial
Baker Hughes15 min27 minMemorial
ConocoPhillips15 min27 minMemorial
McDermott International15 min27 minMemorial
Sysco15 min27 minMemorial
Halliburton34 min31 minRiver Oaks
United Airlines40 min38 minRiver Oaks
HPE51 min54 minMemorial
ExxonMobil52 min54 minMemorial
NASA65 min53 minRiver Oaks
Daikin64 min75 minMemorial

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 Memorial data · Full River Oaks data