ZIP 21252 vs ZIP 21212

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21252 (Towson, MD) and ZIP 21212 (Baltimore, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21252 has a population of 2,872 at 7,656 people per square mile, while ZIP 21212 has 32,322 at 2,689 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 21252 reports a median household income of — against $96,685 in ZIP 21212, with per-capita income of $10,271 vs $60,998. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 21252 and 56.8% in 21212. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 12.1% 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 — in 21252 versus $373,700 in 21212, with median rent of — and $1,368 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 0.0% vs 68.8%. 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.