ZIP 21654 vs ZIP 21662

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21654 (Oxford, 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 21654 has a population of 1,236 at 44 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 21654 reports a median household income of $82,772 against $137,404 in ZIP 21662, with per-capita income of $64,245 vs $82,849. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 67.2% in 21654 and 60.2% in 21662. Poverty rate reads 12.8% vs 9.3%, and unemployment 10.3% 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 $840,000 in 21654 versus $1,107,100 in 21662, with median rent of — and $2,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.7% 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.