ZIP 21162 vs ZIP 21220

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21162 (White Marsh, MD) and ZIP 21220 (Middle River, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21162 has a population of 3,655 at 189 people per square mile, while ZIP 21220 has 39,199 at 702 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 21162 reports a median household income of $157,813 against $81,817 in ZIP 21220, with per-capita income of $61,136 vs $41,843. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.9% in 21162 and 30.0% in 21220. Poverty rate reads 2.3% vs 13.6%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 4.2% - 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 $451,600 in 21162 versus $300,100 in 21220, with median rent of $1,203 and $1,673 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% vs 68.8%. 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.