ZIP 20012 vs ZIP 20910

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20012 (Washington, DC) and ZIP 20910 (Silver Spring, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20012 has a population of 13,414 at 2,288 people per square mile, while ZIP 20910 has 37,445 at 3,181 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 20012 reports a median household income of $121,418 against $112,134 in ZIP 20910, with per-capita income of $72,314 vs $70,416. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 60.2% in 20012 and 73.6% in 20910. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 4.1% — 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 $863,900 in 20012 versus $730,900 in 20910, with median rent of $1,701 and $2,022 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.1% vs 35.5%. 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.