ZIP 20716 vs ZIP 20721

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20716 (Bowie, MD) and ZIP 20721 (Bowie, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20716 has a population of 20,787 at 695 people per square mile, while ZIP 20721 has 27,016 at 625 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 20716 reports a median household income of $125,034 against $163,105 in ZIP 20721, with per-capita income of $60,487 vs $69,489. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.2% in 20716 and 58.4% in 20721. Poverty rate reads 4.4% vs 4.4%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 5.5% — 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 $429,600 in 20716 versus $580,200 in 20721, with median rent of $2,240 and $2,506 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.8% vs 89.5%. 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.