21797 Zip Code Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for the zip code 21797, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

21797 is a zip code in Carroll County and Howard County, Maryland, which covers District 9, Franklin, District 13, Mount Airy, District 14, Berrett, District 4, and Lisbon, with a total population of 8,755 people.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in the 21797 zip code. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in 21797.

The estimated population of people living in 21797 is 8,755, with a median age of 44.8.

We can look back at data from previous years to see how the population in the 21797 area has changed over the last 5 years.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
8,755
+2.3%
+5.53%
2020
8,558
 -3.55% -
2019
8,873
+2.32%
-
2018
8,672
+4.53%
-
2017
8,296
 - -

Population of 21797 by Race and Ethnicity

How much has the race and ethnicity of the population in the 21797 zip code changed? The US Census Bureau gives us a few defined types that the population is broken down into.

Let's look at the total numbers and also the change over the last 5 years.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
87%
89.1%
 -2.36%
Black/African American
1.9%
4.3%
 -55.81%
Native
0.2%
0%
 0.00%
Hispanic
2.8%
2.1%
 +33.33%
Asian
4%
2.2%
 +81.82%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
4%
2.2%
 +81.82%
Other
0%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for anybody studying the 21797 zip for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of 21797 by Age and Gender

We can also monitor the change of the age and gender in the 21797 zip code to track track trends in the population over time.

We can see how the population in 21797 has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 44.8 +8.21% 46.9 +3.3% 40.5 +9.16%
2020 41.4 -6.97% 45.4 -2.99% 37.1 -8.4%
2019 44.5 -5.12% 46.8 -3.7% 40.5 -9.6%
2018 46.9 0% 48.6 +2.1% 44.8 -3.24%
2017 46.9 - 47.6 - 46.3 -

The median age of the 21797 zip gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population in the 21797 area, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 490 +22.9% 397 +49.56% 570 613
10 to 19 554 +13.78% 588 0.97% 623 583
20 to 29 348 -4.29% 429 +29.52% 326 559
30 to 39 327 +27.18% 423 19.12% 405 402
40 to 49 534 -32.64% 520 -24.89% 364 385
50 to 59 813 +19.47% 834 +5.69% 977 871
60 to 69 674 +10.71% 475 +6.29% 729 495
70+ 401 -1.03% 489 -3.99% 391 462

Median Household Income

The latest median household income for the 21797 zip code is $146,908.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less.

The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for 21797.

  • Under 25
    $0.00
  • 25 to 44
    $168,375.00
  • 45 to 64
    $176,406.00
  • 65 and over
    $77,933.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in the 21797 zip code, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in 21797, and then dividing that number by the total number of households.

This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of 21797 is currently $181,422.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

34.73% of households in 21797 are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of 21797 against other zip codes.

  • Less than $24,999
    6.75%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    10.84%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    6.86%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    10.95%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    15.46%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    14.41%
  • $200,000 or more
    34.73%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in 21797 is $60,336.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of 21797 by the total population of 21797.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people living in the 21797 area, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in 21797 to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    22.51%
  • Bachelor's degree
    36.75%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    4.95%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    34.56%
  • Less than high school diploma
    1.23%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in 21797 that are over the age of 16.

Currently, the total population of the 21797 zip over the age of 16 is 7,032.

Of those people, a total of 64.60% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in 21797 is 60.60%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate. Here's how that breaks down for the 21797 zip code.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 666 25.80% 22.70%
20 to 24 years 509 71.50% 17.30%
25 to 29 years 376 87.80% 16.40%
30 to 34 years 333 88.90% 7.40%
35 to 44 years 792 79.30% 5.30%
45 to 54 years 1,367 80.60% 1.60%
55 to 59 years 912 93.60% 1.90%
60 to 64 years 820 61.70% 0.00%
65 to 74 years 839 26.90% 0.00%
75 years and over 418 14.80% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in 21797. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau (which we mentioned earlier in this article).

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 6,403 63.20% 3.40%
Black or African American 149 72.50% 46.30%
American Indian and Alaska Native 23 43.50% 0.00%
Asian 320 78.80% 23.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 9 100.00% 0.00%
Other 1 100.00% 0.00%
Two or more races 127 90.60% 0.00%
Hispanic or Latino 156 73.10% 0.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 6,263 63.00% 3.50%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations for people living in the 21797 area as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in 21797 is 4,259, with median earnings of $63,184.00.

Women in 21797 are earning approximately 43.00% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 4,259 $63,184.00
Male 2,363 $103,150.00
Female 1,896 $44,375.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings for 21797 even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 861 $139,861.00
Business and Financial 311 $110,417.00
Computer and Mathematical 201 $147,418.00
Architecture and Engineering 37 $160,568.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 20 $0.00
Community and Social Service 35 $4,803.00
Legal 25 $0.00
Educational and Library 211 $43,063.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 88 $34,038.00
Healthcare Practitioners 311 $64,196.00
Healthcare Support 20 $0.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 9 $0.00
Law Enforcement 12 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 159 $15,938.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 183 $28,229.00
Personal Care and Service 140 $21,214.00
Sales 495 $53,633.00
Office and Administrative Support 538 $22,917.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 29 $4,917.00
Construction and Extraction 249 $53,988.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 159 $65,855.00
Production 51 $71,354.00
Transportation and Material Moving 97 $23,550.00

Occupations by Gender

Now we can also look at the occupations by category for 21797 when it is broken down by male and female.

This lets us see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings for 21797.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 596 $165,000.00 265 $115,711.00
Business and Financial 127 $108,807.00 184 $121,579.00
Computer and Mathematical 179 $159,196.00 22 $101,250.00
Architecture and Engineering 37 $160,568.00 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 20 $0.00 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 19 $0.00 16 $0.00
Legal 25 $0.00 0 $0.00
Educational and Library 33 $112,938.00 178 $42,625.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 32 $73,250.00 56 $33,462.00
Healthcare Practitioners 76 $180,938.00 235 $56,250.00
Healthcare Support 0 $0.00 20 $0.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 0 $0.00 9 $0.00
Law Enforcement 12 $0.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 59 $9,602.00 100 $16,250.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 176 $27,986.00 7 $0.00
Personal Care and Service 33 $44,205.00 107 $20,048.00
Sales 280 $121,250.00 215 $23,125.00
Office and Administrative Support 71 $56,292.00 467 $17,326.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 22 $4,333.00 7 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 249 $53,988.00 0 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 159 $65,855.00 0 $0.00
Production 51 $71,354.00 0 $0.00
Transportation and Material Moving 89 $23,950.00 8 $0.00

Households and Family Size

A household is defined by the US Census Bureau as a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 2,859 households in 21797, with an average household size of 3.06 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 2,250 families living in the 21797 zip code with an average family size of 3.5 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each, that live in 21797:

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 1,929 177 144 609
Average Household Size 3.54 3.9 2.82 1.32
Total Families 1,929 177 144 0
Average Household Size 3.53 3.79 2.78 0

Poverty

Of the 2,250 families living in 21797, 2.50% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in 21797:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 2,886 housing units in 21797.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 2,859 99.06%
Vacant 27 0.94%

8.91% of the total 2,886 housing units in 21797 are rental units. This is approximately 257 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 2,577 are occupied by the owner - or 89.29% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in 21797 is $1,185.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in 21797 that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    25
  • Less than $500
    30
  • $500 to $999
    83
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    98
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    15
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    9
  • $3,000 or more
    22

Property Value

The median value of a property in 21797 is $587,300.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in 21797 that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    0
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    14
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    0
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    28
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    100
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    787
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    1,482
  • $1,000,000 or more
    166

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in 21797. The chart below shows the number of properties in 21797 that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    250
  • 1940 to 1949
    50
  • 1950 to 1959
    144
  • 1960 to 1969
    246
  • 1970 to 1979
    532
  • 1980 to 1989
    401
  • 1990 to 1999
    715
  • 2000 to 2009
    369
  • 2010 to 2013
    179
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in 21797 that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    58
  • 1 vehicle available
    298
  • 2 vehicles available
    1,075
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    1,428

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in 21797 get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in 21797 that commute to work in a particular way.

41.1 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in 21797.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    46
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    115
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    200
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    262
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    208
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    221
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    396
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    317
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    298
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    676
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    374
  • 90 or more minutes
    251

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for 21797 in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

States in 21797

If you want to see how the population and demographics of 21797 compare to other zip codes in Maryland, check out the list of all Maryland zip codes below: