ZIP 21703 vs ZIP 21717

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21703 (Frederick, MD) and ZIP 21717 (Buckeystown, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21703 has a population of 32,854 at 381 people per square mile, while ZIP 21717 has 54 at 57 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 21703 reports a median household income of $106,334 against $158,413 in ZIP 21717, with per-capita income of $45,809 vs $54,844. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.0% in 21703 and 23.5% in 21717. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 0.0% - 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 $384,600 in 21703 versus $430,600 in 21717, with median rent of $1,991 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.5% vs 100.0%. 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.