ZIP 21230 vs ZIP 21201

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21230 (Baltimore, MD) and ZIP 21201 (Baltimore, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21230 has a population of 33,568 at 2,055 people per square mile, while ZIP 21201 has 16,972 at 5,071 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 21230 reports a median household income of $91,842 against $45,640 in ZIP 21201, with per-capita income of $63,213 vs $43,711. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 58.8% in 21230 and 45.8% in 21201. Poverty rate reads 15.2% vs 28.8%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 5.1% - 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 $330,100 in 21230 versus $275,300 in 21201, with median rent of $1,717 and $1,346 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 50.7% vs 11.0%. 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.