ZIP 20617 vs ZIP 20601

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20617 (Bryantown, MD) and ZIP 20601 (Waldorf, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20617 has a population of 781 at 46 people per square mile, while ZIP 20601 has 24,156 at 209 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 20617 reports a median household income of $104,036 against $117,480 in ZIP 20601, with per-capita income of $96,600 vs $49,227. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 69.9% in 20617 and 33.0% in 20601. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 6.5%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 5.0% — 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 $501,800 in 20617 versus $402,100 in 20601, with median rent of — and $2,208 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 79.6%. 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.