ZIP 21523 vs ZIP 21540

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21523 (Bloomington, MD) and ZIP 21540 (Luke, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21523 has a population of 286 at 156 people per square mile, while ZIP 21540 has 65 at 93 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 21523 reports a median household income of $59,063 against $81,250 in ZIP 21540, with per-capita income of $25,065 vs $32,897. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.6% in 21523 and 11.5% in 21540. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 2.2%, and unemployment 13.3% vs 9.8% — 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 $98,100 in 21523 versus $51,000 in 21540, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.3% vs 88.6%. 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.