ZIP 21228 vs ZIP 21250

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21228 (Catonsville, MD) and ZIP 21250 (Baltimore, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21228 has a population of 47,577 at 1,185 people per square mile, while ZIP 21250 has 3,205 at 5,050 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 21228 reports a median household income of $112,656 against — in ZIP 21250, with per-capita income of $54,810 vs $7,877. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.5% in 21228 and 17.1% in 21250. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs —, and unemployment 3.9% vs 4.6% — 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 $404,700 in 21228 versus — in 21250, with median rent of $1,701 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.0% vs —. 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.