ZIP 21157 vs ZIP 21158

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21157 (Westminster, MD) and ZIP 21158 (Westminster, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21157 has a population of 36,920 at 186 people per square mile, while ZIP 21158 has 20,234 at 105 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 21157 reports a median household income of $104,966 against $109,827 in ZIP 21158, with per-capita income of $49,793 vs $52,759. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.9% in 21157 and 36.1% in 21158. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 4.1% 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 $424,100 in 21157 versus $384,700 in 21158, with median rent of $1,331 and $1,794 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.8% vs 79.2%. 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.