ZIP 21771 vs ZIP 21774

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21771 (Mount Airy, MD) and ZIP 21774 (New Market, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21771 has a population of 29,563 at 134 people per square mile, while ZIP 21774 has 11,662 at 313 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 21771 reports a median household income of $157,302 against $171,103 in ZIP 21774, with per-capita income of $60,220 vs $59,972. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.8% in 21771 and 61.6% in 21774. Poverty rate reads 3.1% vs 2.2%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 2.4% — 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 $556,200 in 21771 versus $541,000 in 21774, with median rent of $2,252 and $2,494 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.0% vs 93.5%. 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.