ZIP 21804 vs ZIP 21801

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21804 (Salisbury, MD) and ZIP 21801 (Salisbury, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21804 has a population of 38,491 at 200 people per square mile, while ZIP 21801 has 29,961 at 274 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 21804 reports a median household income of $73,156 against $71,313 in ZIP 21801, with per-capita income of $35,152 vs $40,266. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.2% in 21804 and 33.5% in 21801. Poverty rate reads 16.7% vs 15.6%, and unemployment 7.2% vs 5.9% — 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 $243,700 in 21804 versus $327,700 in 21801, with median rent of $1,432 and $1,114 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 51.4% vs 58.2%. 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.