ZIP 21201 vs ZIP 21202

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21201 (Baltimore, MD) and ZIP 21202 (Baltimore, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21201 has a population of 16,972 at 5,071 people per square mile, while ZIP 21202 has 22,832 at 5,562 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 21201 reports a median household income of $45,640 against $59,377 in ZIP 21202, with per-capita income of $43,711 vs $43,028. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.8% in 21201 and 45.0% in 21202. Poverty rate reads 28.8% vs 24.3%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 6.1% — 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 $275,300 in 21201 versus $271,800 in 21202, with median rent of $1,346 and $1,515 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 11.0% vs 21.4%. 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.