ZIP 22203 vs ZIP 22204

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22203 (Arlington, VA) and ZIP 22204 (Arlington, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22203 has a population of 21,850 at 5,521 people per square mile, while ZIP 22204 has 47,233 at 4,426 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 22203 reports a median household income of $140,135 against $107,941 in ZIP 22204, with per-capita income of $83,339 vs $64,411. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 79.1% in 22203 and 60.0% in 22204. Poverty rate reads 9.8% vs 10.6%, and unemployment 3.7% 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 $826,800 in 22203 versus $688,000 in 22204, with median rent of $2,416 and $1,894 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 29.3% vs 40.2%. 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.