ZIP 21653 vs ZIP 21662

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21653 (Newcomb, MD) and ZIP 21662 (Royal Oak, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21653 has a population of 114 at 253 people per square mile, while ZIP 21662 has 555 at 27 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 21653 reports a median household income of — against $137,404 in ZIP 21662, with per-capita income of $53,004 vs $82,849. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.6% in 21653 and 60.2% in 21662. Poverty rate reads 14.3% vs 9.3%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 10.5% — 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 $829,500 in 21653 versus $1,107,100 in 21662, with median rent of — and $2,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 81.1%. 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.