ZIP 21769 vs ZIP 21755

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21769 (Middletown, MD) and ZIP 21755 (Jefferson, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21769 has a population of 11,236 at 106 people per square mile, while ZIP 21755 has 5,591 at 63 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 21769 reports a median household income of $151,563 against $137,417 in ZIP 21755, with per-capita income of $60,766 vs $62,001. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.8% in 21769 and 46.8% in 21755. Poverty rate reads 1.3% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 2.1% — 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 $507,000 in 21769 versus $529,600 in 21755, with median rent of $1,708 and $1,265 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.0% vs 86.6%. 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.