ZIP 20815 vs ZIP 20015

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20815 (Chevy Chase, MD) and ZIP 20015 (Washington, DC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20815 has a population of 29,082 at 2,067 people per square mile, while ZIP 20015 has 15,332 at 1,717 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 20815 reports a median household income of $194,971 against $250,001 in ZIP 20015, with per-capita income of $133,313 vs $138,482. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 84.7% in 20815 and 87.1% in 20015. Poverty rate reads 4.6% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 3.0% — 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 $1,294,200 in 20815 versus $1,245,600 in 20015, with median rent of $2,488 and $2,234 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.3% vs 77.3%. 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.