ZIP 21829 vs ZIP 21864

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21829 (Girdletree, MD) and ZIP 21864 (Stockton, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21829 has a population of 527 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 21864 has 611 at 11 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 21829 reports a median household income of $71,359 against $82,917 in ZIP 21864, with per-capita income of $48,030 vs $41,678. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.2% in 21829 and 17.3% in 21864. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 3.5%, and unemployment 14.0% vs 6.4% — 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 $270,900 in 21829 versus $163,500 in 21864, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.0% vs 90.9%. 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.