ZIP 22201 vs ZIP 22209

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22201 (Arlington, VA) and ZIP 22209 (Arlington, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22201 has a population of 33,476 at 5,532 people per square mile, while ZIP 22209 has 12,314 at 7,923 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 22201 reports a median household income of $145,000 against $120,515 in ZIP 22209, with per-capita income of $98,762 vs $98,791. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 86.7% in 22201 and 83.8% in 22209. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 12.3%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 4.6% — 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 $781,600 in 22201 versus $820,000 in 22209, with median rent of $2,550 and $2,203 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 32.4% vs 28.6%. 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.