ZIP 20018 vs ZIP 20712

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20018 (Washington, DC) and ZIP 20712 (Mount Rainier, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20018 has a population of 16,894 at 2,159 people per square mile, while ZIP 20712 has 9,031 at 4,781 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 20018 reports a median household income of $90,639 against $68,846 in ZIP 20712, with per-capita income of $61,245 vs $39,649. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.8% in 20018 and 35.0% in 20712. Poverty rate reads 14.9% vs 5.9%, and unemployment 8.0% vs 5.6% — 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 $697,000 in 20018 versus $527,900 in 20712, with median rent of $1,295 and $1,463 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 52.1% vs 23.5%. 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.