ZIP 21716 vs ZIP 20180

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21716 (Brunswick, MD) and ZIP 20180 (Lovettsville, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21716 has a population of 4,885 at 585 people per square mile, while ZIP 20180 has 6,549 at 59 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 21716 reports a median household income of $109,382 against $151,483 in ZIP 20180, with per-capita income of $55,483 vs $64,055. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.6% in 21716 and 57.5% in 20180. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 2.6%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 6.3% — 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 $361,300 in 21716 versus $664,400 in 20180, with median rent of $1,195 and $2,000 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.1% vs 95.3%. 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.