Rent Affordability Index

Rent affordability in ZIP 21048 (Maryland)

Rent affordability in ZIP 21048 (Maryland) works out like this: households earn a median $125,098 while annual rent runs $14,220 — 8.80 times rent. That ranks the ZIP code at the 97.6th percentile, meaning rent takes a smaller share of local income than in 98% of the ZIP codes we score. The index covers rent only, not food, transport or healthcare.

SqueezedComfortable
97.6
Excellent
ZIP 21048 rent affordability percentile

Higher is better: income goes further after rent.

Median household income

$125,098

Annual rent

$14,220

Income to rent ratio

8.80×

National percentile

97.6

Rent share of income

11%

Maryland

Best-value ZIP codes in Maryland

  1. 1
    2179714.76× rent100.0
  2. 2
    2101311.83× rent99.8
  3. 3
    2063611.50× rent99.8
  4. 4
    206399.91× rent99.1
  5. 5
    211469.60× rent98.8
  6. 6
    217559.49× rent98.7
  7. 7
    207369.10× rent98.3
  8. 8
    210488.80× rent97.6
  9. 9
    210848.64× rent97.2
  10. 10
    206788.29× rent96.2

Reading the numbers for 21048

The classic rule of thumb keeps rent under 30% of gross income. Here that threshold sits at $47,400 of household income; anything below it means rent is taking more than a comfortable share.

Income and rent both come from the same American Community Survey 5-year release, so they are already expressed in the same dollars and we apply no inflation adjustment on top. The percentile is computed across every ZIP code with at least 5,000 residents.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (ZCTA median gross rent and median household income). Latest observation 2026-09-01.

Full profile for ZIP 21048 · See the national index

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