ZIP 20842 vs ZIP 20839

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20842 (Dickerson, MD) and ZIP 20839 (Beallsville, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20842 has a population of 1,824 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 20839 has 214 at 17 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 20842 reports a median household income of $204,013 against $160,329 in ZIP 20839, with per-capita income of $82,106 vs $69,444. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.0% in 20842 and 61.3% in 20839. Poverty rate reads 1.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.5% 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 $745,800 in 20842 versus $950,000 in 20839, with median rent of $1,777 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.4% vs 50.0%. 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.