ZIP 21740 vs ZIP 21742

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21740 (Hagerstown, MD) and ZIP 21742 (Hagerstown, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21740 has a population of 61,859 at 342 people per square mile, while ZIP 21742 has 31,444 at 241 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 21740 reports a median household income of $62,873 against $86,288 in ZIP 21742, with per-capita income of $33,461 vs $43,456. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.7% in 21740 and 31.2% in 21742. Poverty rate reads 17.3% vs 12.3%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 4.7% — 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 $262,300 in 21740 versus $304,800 in 21742, with median rent of $1,080 and $1,351 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 55.3% vs 69.0%. 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.