ZIP 21085 vs ZIP 21156

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21085 (Joppa, MD) and ZIP 21156 (Upper Falls, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21085 has a population of 16,171 at 348 people per square mile, while ZIP 21156 has 358 at 96 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 21085 reports a median household income of $113,714 against — in ZIP 21156, with per-capita income of $53,622 vs $62,755. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.2% in 21085 and 66.9% in 21156. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 3.5% 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 $348,600 in 21085 versus $793,800 in 21156, with median rent of $1,734 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.0% vs 100.0%. 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.