ZIP 21917 vs ZIP 21904

This side-by-side compares ZIP 21917 (Colora, MD) and ZIP 21904 (Port Deposit, MD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 21917 has a population of 2,520 at 124 people per square mile, while ZIP 21904 has 7,252 at 118 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 21917 reports a median household income of $96,750 against $88,136 in ZIP 21904, with per-capita income of $42,367 vs $41,351. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.1% in 21917 and 28.0% in 21904. Poverty rate reads 7.4% vs 7.7%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 8.1% — 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 $409,400 in 21917 versus $333,500 in 21904, with median rent of — and $1,422 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.0% vs 89.0%. 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.