ZIP 21543 vs ZIP 21532

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21543 (Midlothian, MD) and ZIP 21532 (Frostburg, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21543 has a population of 140 at 40 people per square mile, while ZIP 21532 has 15,620 at 78 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 21543 reports a median household income of — against $63,690 in ZIP 21532, with per-capita income of $53,144 vs $32,801. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.4% in 21543 and 30.5% in 21532. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 17.0%, and unemployment 35.3% vs 5.6% — 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 $190,200 in 21543 versus $182,400 in 21532, with median rent of $775 and $916 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.4% vs 63.7%. 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.