ZIP 21043 vs ZIP 21042

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21043 (Ellicott City, MD) and ZIP 21042 (Ellicott City, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21043 has a population of 42,246 at 960 people per square mile, while ZIP 21042 has 38,076 at 392 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 21043 reports a median household income of $148,125 against $190,061 in ZIP 21042, with per-capita income of $65,206 vs $77,643. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.2% in 21043 and 72.9% in 21042. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 3.3%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 1.9% - 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 $620,900 in 21043 versus $706,400 in 21042, with median rent of $2,094 and $2,183 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.9% vs 84.7%. 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.