ZIP 21204 vs ZIP 21252

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21204 (Towson, MD) and ZIP 21252 (Towson, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21204 has a population of 20,253 at 1,297 people per square mile, while ZIP 21252 has 2,872 at 7,656 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 21204 reports a median household income of $99,606 against — in ZIP 21252, with per-capita income of $67,450 vs $10,271. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 73.1% in 21204 and 24.4% in 21252. Poverty rate reads 14.9% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 12.1% — 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 $594,800 in 21204 versus — in 21252, with median rent of $1,875 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 45.7% vs 0.0%. 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.