Ellicott City, MD (21042)

Ellicott City, MD (ZIP 21042) sits in Howard County within the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro area. The page draws on 2 federal data feeds retrieved Apr 27. Top health signal: Health Insurance comes in below the national average at 4.0%. NCES lists 13 schools serving the area, 13 non-charter. 9 colleges and universities serve the area, with median in-state tuition of $4,201. IRS data shows average household income (AGI) of $179,052, well above the ~$45K national average per return. BLS QCEW puts average annual pay at $86,951 per worker — about 33% above the US average and a clear high-wage signal. Social vulnerability is low in this ZIP at the 18th percentile (CDC SVI), reflecting strong baseline resilience to public-health emergencies and natural disasters. FEMA has issued 22 federal disaster declarations affecting this ZIP since 1971 — a high-frequency exposure profile. Premature-mortality burden is comparatively low at 4,573 years of potential life lost per 100,000 (County Health Rankings, 2025). Fast-food restaurants outnumber grocery stores roughly 7-to-1 per capita (USDA Food Environment Atlas) — a "food swamp" pattern often linked to higher diet-related disease prevalence. Per IRS migration filings (2022-2023), the area's primary county lost $272,731,000 in net taxable income to other counties. Healthcare access and school options both run strong here, giving residents a wide menu of providers and enrollment choices nearby. Notable: median household income $178,207, fair market rent of $2,480 for a two-bedroom, and a typical home value of $809,299, down 0.1% over the past year. Every figure on this page links to its underlying federal dataset with a retrieval date so you can audit the freshness yourself.

Demographics

HUD Fair Market Rents represent the 40th percentile of standard-quality rental housing in this area. FY2026 data.

Home values

Source: Zillow Research, ZHVI All Homes (SFR, Condo/Co-op) Time Series (zillow.com/research/data). Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) is copyrighted by Zillow, Inc.

New housing construction

Based on county-level data (2024).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (census.gov/construction/bps). Public domain. BPS reports annual residential building permits from local permit-issuing jurisdictions, aggregated to county. A permit reflects intent to build, not a completed unit — actual construction lags by 6-24 months for multifamily projects.

Income & tax statistics

Source: IRS Statistics of Income — Individual Income Tax Statistics by ZIP Code (irs.gov). Public domain. Dollar columns reported in thousands by the IRS; figures here display real dollars. Total ZCTA AGI for the area was $3690.3M across all reported brackets.

Business & employment

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Business Patterns (census.gov). Public domain. ZBP covers establishments with paid employees; Census suppresses employment and payroll values when fewer employers operate in a ZIP than would protect their confidentiality.

Employment & wages

That is roughly 33% above the US national average of $65,470 per worker.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (bls.gov/cew). Public domain. QCEW is derived from state unemployment-insurance filings and covers ~95% of US jobs. Figures are county-level totals assigned to ZIPs whose primary county matches; small-employer cells are suppressed by BLS to protect employer confidentiality.

Unemployment

Based on Howard County, MD data (2024).

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (bls.gov/lau). Public domain. LAUS publishes monthly and annual labor-force estimates for every US county. Figures are county-level totals assigned to ZIPs whose primary county matches.

Banking access

Based on FDIC-insured branch offices as of June 30, 2024.

Source: FDIC Summary of Deposits (fdic.gov). Annual June-30 snapshot of every FDIC-insured branch and the deposits booked there. Figures cover all institutions reporting a branch address in this ZIP.

Alternative-fuel stations

Active public stations only. Snapshot taken 2026; AFDC's underlying registry refreshes continuously as stations open and close.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy via NREL (afdc.energy.gov). Per-ZIP counts of active public alternative-fuel stations (electric, hydrogen, propane, CNG, biodiesel, E85, LNG, renewable diesel) and EV charging-port totals.

Public libraries

Includes 3 bookmobiles — service location varies; check the system's schedule.

Public libraries provide free WiFi, computer access, children's programming, job-seeking resources, and meeting space — community infrastructure beyond books. FY2023 outlet inventory from the federal Public Libraries Survey.

Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services (imls.gov). Per-ZIP counts of active public-library outlets — central buildings, branches, and bookmobiles — operated by federally reporting library systems.

Social Vulnerability Index

The Social Vulnerability Index uses U.S. Census data to identify communities most at risk during public health emergencies and natural disasters. Higher percentiles indicate greater vulnerability. Tract-level scores are aggregated to this ZCTA via Census 2020 ZCTA→Tract crosswalk, weighted by land-area share. Source: atsdr.cdc.gov. Public domain.

Federal Disaster Declarations

FEMA declares disasters at the county level; counts here include every federally declared disaster touching any county that overlaps this ZIP. Statewide declarations and pre-1964 records without county granularity are excluded. Program flags reflect which FEMA assistance categories were activated (Individual Assistance, Households, Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation). Source: fema.gov/openfema. Public domain.

Air quality

Based on Howard County data (2024).

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System (epa.gov). Public domain. Only counties with EPA AQS monitoring stations appear here (~30% of US counties); rural ZIPs whose primary county has no monitor will not show this section.

Community health profile

Low birth weight (under 2,500 g) accounts for 8.4% of live births in this county — an early-life health input that downstream outcomes track against.

Based on Howard data (2025 CHR release).

Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (countyhealthrankings.org). Annual release. Underlying source datasets vary by measure (CDC BRFSS, NCHS Vital Statistics, AHA, USDA Food Environment Atlas, and others). Figures are county-level and assigned to every ZIP whose primary county matches.

Food access

Among low-income residents, 1.9% are low-access — those without a supermarket within 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural).

Per-1,000 figures show how many of each store type exist in Howard County, MD for every 1,000 residents. Higher grocery and supercenter density usually means easier access to fresh food; higher convenience-store-only density (with low grocery rate) often signals a food swamp.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Environment Atlas (ers.usda.gov). County-level metrics fanned to ZIP via the primary county in the Census ZCTA-county relationship file. Variable years differ per family (stores ~2020, low-access ~2019).

Who’s moving in and out

Incoming households reported an average AGI of $88,735 versus departing households' $99,863.

Source: U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, Migration Data (irs.gov). Public domain. Migration is measured by year-over-year changes in the address on individual tax returns; figures are county-level totals attributed to ZIPs whose primary county matches. Foreign migration contributes to inflow/outflow totals but does not appear in the top-county lists. Small flows are suppressed by IRS to protect taxpayer confidentiality.

Data sources used on this page

Health profile

Crude prevalence estimates from CDC PLACES, derived from BRFSS small-area modeling. Population-level figures only.

Schools in this ZIP

13 schools serve this ZIP, including 13 non-charter.

Showing top 5 by enrollment. 8 more schools serve this ZIP.

Schools listed from NCES Common Core of Data via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal.

Colleges & universities nearby

• Anne Arundel Community College

  Arnold, MD · 21012

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  $4,322

  Out-of-state tuition

  $11,522

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  28.3%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $46,219

  Median student debt

  $8,250

• Howard Community College

  Columbia, MD · 21044

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  $4,080

  Out-of-state tuition

  $9,624

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  25.3%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $49,020

  Median student debt

  $10,500

• Harford Community College

  Bel Air, MD · 21015

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  $4,032

  Out-of-state tuition

  $8,832

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  38.8%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $44,608

  Median student debt

  $9,812

• Lincoln College of Technology-Columbia

  Columbia, MD · 21046

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  66.3%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $38,683

  Median student debt

  $11,250

• Cortiva Institute

  Linthicum, MD · 21090

  Certificate

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  68.3%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $30,474

  Median student debt

  $7,785

• Baltimore Beauty & Barber School II

  Timonium, MD · 21093

  Certificate

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  —

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $18,172

  Median student debt

  $13,000

• Institute of Health Sciences

  Hunt Valley, MD · 21031

  Certificate

  In-state tuition

  $16,200

  Out-of-state tuition

  $16,200

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  97.1%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  —

  Median student debt

  $9,500

• Aveda Institute-Maryland

  Bel Air, MD · 21014

  Certificate

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  92.6%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $21,250

  Median student debt

  $6,333

• Empire Beauty School-Glen Burnie

  Glen Burnie, MD · 21061

  Certificate

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  31.1%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $25,073

  Median student debt

  $13,000

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (collegescorecard.ed.gov). Public domain data. Earnings figures reflect median earnings 10 years after entry for federally-aided students.

What these numbers say together

Frequently Asked Questions — ZIP 21042

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