ZIP 21153 vs ZIP 21208

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21153 (Stevenson, MD) and ZIP 21208 (Pikesville, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21153 has a population of 323 at 64 people per square mile, while ZIP 21208 has 33,917 at 1,063 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 21153 reports a median household income of $220,179 against $90,131 in ZIP 21208, with per-capita income of $151,894 vs $57,156. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 84.8% in 21153 and 50.3% in 21208. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 5.5% — 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 $902,300 in 21153 versus $337,900 in 21208, with median rent of — and $1,720 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.8% vs 66.9%. 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.