Mertens vs Penelope

A side-by-side comparison of Mertens and Penelope: population, income, housing, and more.

Mertens and Penelope are places in Texas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Penelope has the higher population (223 vs 130 in Mertens). Penelope has the higher median household income ($65,938 vs $43,365 in Mertens). Penelope has the higher median home value ($96,300 vs $91,400 in Mertens).

Population, income & housing

	Mertens	Penelope
Population	130	223
Median age	29.1 yrs	42.7 yrs
Median household income	$43,365	$65,938
Median home value	$91,400	$96,300
Median gross rent	$631	—
Housing units	57	105
Homeownership rate	51.1%	95.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	8.6%	18.8%
Unemployment rate	3.4%	3.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Mertens	Penelope
Population	138 → 130 (-5.8%)	167 → 223 (+33.5%)
Median household income	$40,625 → $43,365 (+6.7%)	$52,500 → $65,938 (+25.6%)
Median home value	$67,000 → $91,400 (+36.4%)	$58,800 → $96,300 (+63.8%)
Median gross rent	$581 → $631 (+8.6%)	—

Mertens

Population

138130

Median household income

$40,625$43,365

Median home value

$67,000$91,400

Median gross rent

$581$631

Penelope

Population

167223

Median household income

$52,500$65,938

Median home value

$58,800$96,300

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Mertens	Penelope
Under 5	6.2%	11.2%
5 to 17	23.8%	17.0%
18 to 24	16.2%	2.7%
25 to 34	23.1%	10.3%
35 to 44	1.5%	12.1%
45 to 54	10.0%	6.7%
55 to 64	8.5%	14.8%
65 to 74	2.3%	12.6%
75 and over	8.5%	12.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Mertens	Penelope
White (non-Hispanic)	66.2%	64.1%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.8%	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	33.1%	32.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Mertens	Penelope
No high school diploma	14.3%	25.3%
High school graduate	45.7%	29.2%
Some college or associate's	31.4%	26.6%
Bachelor's degree	4.3%	16.2%
Graduate or professional degree	4.3%	2.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Mertens	Penelope
Drove alone	38.6%	77.7%
Carpooled	57.9%	16.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	3.5%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	0.0%	3.2%
Other means	0.0%	2.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Mertens	Penelope
1-unit, detached	64.9%	91.4%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	22.8%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	12.3%	8.6%

Poverty & households

	Mertens	Penelope
Poverty rate	10.3%	5.4%
Average household size	2.77	2.51
Mean commute (minutes)	45	20
Median year structure built	1976	1962