ZIP 17314 vs ZIP 21160

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17314 (Delta, PA) and ZIP 21160 (Whiteford, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17314 has a population of 5,929 at 65 people per square mile, while ZIP 21160 has 2,408 at 56 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 17314 reports a median household income of $96,047 against $106,181 in ZIP 21160, with per-capita income of $38,369 vs $51,491. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.8% in 17314 and 22.5% in 21160. Poverty rate reads 4.8% vs 11.4%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 3.7% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $269,300 in 17314 versus $391,300 in 21160, with median rent of $998 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.7% vs 81.1%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.