ZIP 21042 vs ZIP 21044

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21042 (Ellicott City, MD) and ZIP 21044 (Columbia, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21042 has a population of 38,076 at 392 people per square mile, while ZIP 21044 has 41,704 at 1,342 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 21042 reports a median household income of $190,061 against $135,057 in ZIP 21044, with per-capita income of $77,643 vs $68,805. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.9% in 21042 and 67.9% in 21044. Poverty rate reads 3.3% vs 7.0%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 3.9% — 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 $706,400 in 21042 versus $566,500 in 21044, with median rent of $2,183 and $2,166 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.7% vs 60.3%. 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.