⚖️ Side by side

Midtown vs Sugar Land

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

Should you live in Midtown or Sugar Land? Midtown and Sugar Land are both communities in the Greater Houston metro area. Midtown has the lower ACS median owner-occupied home value, by about 6%. Midtown is $384,100 against $406,600 for Sugar Land. On FEMA maps Midtown is Zone X (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD) 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 Midtown and Sugar Land are measured the same way and each side links its own source.

MetricMidtownSugar LandSource
Median owner-occupied home value (ACS)$384,100 (2023)$406,600 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median gross rent (ACS)$1,320 (2023)$1,939 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median household income$65,901 (2023)$137,511 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Population35,866 (2023)109,735 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS

Flood Zone in Each Community

FEMA maps Midtown as Zone X (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD) and Sugar Land as Zone X (AREA WITH REDUCED FLOOD RISK DUE TO LEVEE).

FEMA flood zoneX (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD)X (AREA WITH REDUCED FLOOD RISK DUE TO LEVEE)
Special Flood Hazard AreaNoNo

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 centerMidtownSugar LandCloser
Chevron3 min43 minMidtown
NRG Energy3 min43 minMidtown
Memorial Hermann4 min36 minMidtown
Houston Methodist5 min36 minMidtown
MD Anderson6 min36 minMidtown
Devon Energy23 min30 minMidtown
SLB31 min25 minSugar Land
Sysco33 min25 minSugar Land
Baker Hughes33 min29 minSugar Land
ConocoPhillips33 min29 minSugar Land
McDermott International33 min29 minSugar Land
Halliburton31 min65 minMidtown
United Airlines38 min71 minMidtown
NASA48 min73 minMidtown
HPE56 min81 minMidtown
ExxonMobil57 min82 minMidtown
Daikin80 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 Midtown data · Full Sugar Land data