ZIP 21872 vs ZIP 21874

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21872 (Whaleyville, MD) and ZIP 21874 (Willards, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21872 has a population of 718 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 21874 has 2,210 at 32 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 21872 reports a median household income of $117,888 against $78,393 in ZIP 21874, with per-capita income of $42,681 vs $33,201. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.4% in 21872 and 21.2% in 21874. Poverty rate reads 2.9% vs 17.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 8.3% — 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 $433,300 in 21872 versus $236,700 in 21874, with median rent of — and $1,460 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 97.8% vs 82.4%. 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.