ZIP 20903 vs ZIP 20901

This side-by-side compares ZIP 20903 (Silver Spring, MD) and ZIP 20901 (Silver Spring, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 20903 has a population of 23,625 at 2,532 people per square mile, while ZIP 20901 has 34,832 at 2,498 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 20903 reports a median household income of $80,768 against $131,386 in ZIP 20901, with per-capita income of $29,849 vs $59,829. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.2% in 20903 and 58.6% in 20901. Poverty rate reads 15.8% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 7.9% vs 6.5% — 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 $485,700 in 20903 versus $589,800 in 20901, with median rent of $1,818 and $1,823 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 41.2% vs 68.1%. 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.