ZIP 21286 vs ZIP 21252

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21286 (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 21286 has a population of 19,206 at 869 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 21286 reports a median household income of $93,808 against — in ZIP 21252, with per-capita income of $58,071 vs $10,271. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 58.8% in 21286 and 24.4% in 21252. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 3.3% 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 $430,100 in 21286 versus — in 21252, with median rent of $1,605 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.9% 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.