ZIP 15042 vs ZIP 15074

This side-by-side compares ZIP 15042 (Freedom, PA) and ZIP 15074 (Rochester, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 15042 has a population of 8,105 at 188 people per square mile, while ZIP 15074 has 8,874 at 229 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 15042 reports a median household income of $75,742 against $54,063 in ZIP 15074, with per-capita income of $41,388 vs $34,870. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.7% in 15042 and 20.1% in 15074. Poverty rate reads 8.7% vs 16.7%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 5.1% — 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 $231,700 in 15042 versus $145,400 in 15074, with median rent of $1,583 and $797 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.3% vs 67.0%. 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.