ZIP 20637 vs ZIP 20617

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20637 (Hughesville, MD) and ZIP 20617 (Bryantown, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20637 has a population of 5,423 at 68 people per square mile, while ZIP 20617 has 781 at 46 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 20637 reports a median household income of $160,121 against $104,036 in ZIP 20617, with per-capita income of $55,690 vs $96,600. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.0% in 20637 and 69.9% in 20617. Poverty rate reads 2.8% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 0.0% — 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 $555,400 in 20637 versus $501,800 in 20617, with median rent of $2,366 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.6% vs 100.0%. 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.