ZIP 21521 vs ZIP 21562

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21521 (Barton, MD) and ZIP 21562 (Westernport, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21521 has a population of 1,265 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 21562 has 3,141 at 42 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 21521 reports a median household income of $64,194 against $47,500 in ZIP 21562, with per-capita income of $33,294 vs $30,775. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.1% in 21521 and 13.9% in 21562. Poverty rate reads 12.6% vs 20.3%, and unemployment 13.4% vs 0.3% — 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 $107,500 in 21521 versus $98,500 in 21562, with median rent of $863 and $547 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.6% vs 73.1%. 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.