ZIP 20166 vs ZIP 20170

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20166 (Sterling, VA) and ZIP 20170 (Herndon, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20166 has a population of 9,521 at 211 people per square mile, while ZIP 20170 has 41,236 at 1,815 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 20166 reports a median household income of $133,401 against $159,466 in ZIP 20170, with per-capita income of $58,048 vs $59,837. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.3% in 20166 and 57.3% in 20170. Poverty rate reads 4.1% vs 7.7%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 4.0% — 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 $618,800 in 20166 versus $647,200 in 20170, with median rent of $2,362 and $2,331 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 49.5% vs 68.3%. 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.