ZIP 20170 vs ZIP 20194

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20170 (Herndon, VA) and ZIP 20194 (Reston, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20170 has a population of 41,236 at 1,815 people per square mile, while ZIP 20194 has 13,165 at 1,613 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 20170 reports a median household income of $159,466 against $170,988 in ZIP 20194, with per-capita income of $59,837 vs $105,788. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 57.3% in 20170 and 80.3% in 20194. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 3.3%, 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 $647,200 in 20170 versus $827,100 in 20194, with median rent of $2,331 and $2,419 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.3% vs 71.4%. 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.