ZIP 21914 vs ZIP 21901

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21914 (Charlestown, MD) and ZIP 21901 (North East, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21914 has a population of 765 at 397 people per square mile, while ZIP 21901 has 15,875 at 125 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 21914 reports a median household income of $66,806 against $113,719 in ZIP 21901, with per-capita income of $37,394 vs $48,933. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.1% in 21914 and 36.3% in 21901. Poverty rate reads 20.1% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 6.6% — 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 $288,500 in 21914 versus $367,400 in 21901, with median rent of $1,522 and $1,465 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.4% vs 73.1%. 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.