ZIP 21784 vs ZIP 21157

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21784 (Sykesville, MD) and ZIP 21157 (Westminster, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21784 has a population of 37,941 at 255 people per square mile, while ZIP 21157 has 36,920 at 186 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 21784 reports a median household income of $139,395 against $104,966 in ZIP 21157, with per-capita income of $56,974 vs $49,793. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 53.0% in 21784 and 37.9% in 21157. Poverty rate reads 4.4% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 4.1% — 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 $491,800 in 21784 versus $424,100 in 21157, with median rent of $1,739 and $1,331 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.3% vs 76.8%. 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.