ZIP 21140 vs ZIP 21035

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21140 (Riva, MD) and ZIP 21035 (Davidsonville, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21140 has a population of 3,457 at 987 people per square mile, while ZIP 21035 has 7,815 at 106 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 21140 reports a median household income of $170,156 against $188,347 in ZIP 21035, with per-capita income of $75,559 vs $79,628. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.3% in 21140 and 57.8% in 21035. Poverty rate reads 1.3% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 0.6% vs 3.5% — 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 $634,700 in 21140 versus $831,500 in 21035, with median rent of — and $2,917 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 98.7% vs 94.4%. 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.