ZIP 21861 vs ZIP 21659

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21861 (Sharptown, MD) and ZIP 21659 (Rhodesdale, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21861 has a population of 757 at 112 people per square mile, while ZIP 21659 has 1,551 at 13 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 21861 reports a median household income of $86,027 against $73,750 in ZIP 21659, with per-capita income of $38,676 vs $31,627. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.3% in 21861 and 10.4% in 21659. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 10.6%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 0.5% — 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 $192,100 in 21861 versus $259,900 in 21659, with median rent of $1,185 and $892 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.1% vs 83.4%. 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.