⚖️ Side by side

Midtown vs The Woodlands

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

Should you live in Midtown or The Woodlands? Midtown and The Woodlands are both communities in the Greater Houston metro area. Midtown has the lower ACS median owner-occupied home value, by about 20%. Midtown is $384,100 against $479,400 for The Woodlands. On FEMA maps Midtown is Zone X (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD) and The Woodlands is not one single zone. Every figure is sourced and linked.

Cost and Demographics

Both columns below come from the same Census ACS tables, so Midtown and The Woodlands are measured the same way and each side links its own source.

MetricMidtownThe WoodlandsSource
Median owner-occupied home value (ACS)$384,100 (2023)$479,400 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median gross rent (ACS)$1,320 (2023)$1,792 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Median household income$65,901 (2023)$141,353 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS
Population35,866 (2023)116,916 (2023)US Census ACS, US Census ACS

Flood Zone in Each Community

FEMA maps Midtown as Zone X (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD) and The Woodlands as more than one flood zone. Where the zone varies, whether flood insurance is federally required depends on the specific address rather than the community.

FEMA flood zoneX (AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD)VARIES (AE, X)
Special Flood Hazard AreaNovaries

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 centerMidtownThe WoodlandsCloser
Chevron3 min67 minMidtown
NRG Energy3 min67 minMidtown
Memorial Hermann4 min72 minMidtown
Houston Methodist5 min72 minMidtown
MD Anderson6 min73 minMidtown
ExxonMobil57 min14 minThe Woodlands
HPE56 min15 minThe Woodlands
Devon Energy23 min61 minMidtown
Halliburton31 min42 minMidtown
SLB31 min65 minMidtown
Baker Hughes33 min61 minMidtown
ConocoPhillips33 min61 minMidtown
McDermott International33 min62 minMidtown
Sysco33 min65 minMidtown
United Airlines38 min37 minThe Woodlands
NASA48 min111 minMidtown
Daikin80 min50 minThe Woodlands

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 The Woodlands data