ZIP 20621 vs ZIP 20618

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20621 (Chaptico, MD) and ZIP 20618 (Bushwood, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20621 has a population of 1,373 at 38 people per square mile, while ZIP 20618 has 607 at 42 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 20621 reports a median household income of — against $105,508 in ZIP 20618, with per-capita income of $54,408 vs $59,691. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.8% in 20621 and 16.6% in 20618. Poverty rate reads 20.0% vs 3.1%, and unemployment 14.4% vs 10.8% — 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 $481,100 in 20621 versus $355,000 in 20618, with median rent of — and $1,905 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 83.4%. 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.