ZIP 22205 vs ZIP 22203

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22205 (Arlington, VA) and ZIP 22203 (Arlington, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22205 has a population of 17,087 at 2,430 people per square mile, while ZIP 22203 has 21,850 at 5,521 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 22205 reports a median household income of $201,094 against $140,135 in ZIP 22203, with per-capita income of $102,189 vs $83,339. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 81.4% in 22205 and 79.1% in 22203. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 3.7% — 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 $1,092,800 in 22205 versus $826,800 in 22203, with median rent of $1,911 and $2,416 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.1% vs 29.3%. 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.