ZIP 21778 vs ZIP 21727

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21778 (Rocky Ridge, MD) and ZIP 21727 (Emmitsburg, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21778 has a population of 1,094 at 24 people per square mile, while ZIP 21727 has 5,850 at 71 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 21778 reports a median household income of $76,458 against $95,236 in ZIP 21727, with per-capita income of $54,798 vs $31,048. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.0% in 21778 and 26.1% in 21727. Poverty rate reads 0.9% vs 11.3%, and unemployment 6.5% vs 2.7% - 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 $382,100 in 21778 versus $331,100 in 21727, with median rent of - and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.3% vs 76.4%. 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.