ZIP 21208 vs ZIP 21153

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