ZIP 20872 vs ZIP 20871

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20872 (Damascus, MD) and ZIP 20871 (Clarksburg, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20872 has a population of 13,104 at 243 people per square mile, while ZIP 20871 has 13,130 at 247 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 20872 reports a median household income of $141,050 against $177,523 in ZIP 20871, with per-capita income of $55,057 vs $59,923. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.3% in 20872 and 68.1% in 20871. Poverty rate reads 4.1% vs 3.8%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 4.3% — 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 $504,300 in 20872 versus $668,800 in 20871, with median rent of $1,809 and $2,560 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% vs 90.6%. 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.