ZIP 15106 vs ZIP 15142

This side-by-side compares ZIP 15106 (Carnegie, PA) and ZIP 15142 (Presto, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 15106 has a population of 18,536 at 641 people per square mile, while ZIP 15142 has 1,163 at 309 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 15106 reports a median household income of $77,247 against $119,667 in ZIP 15142, with per-capita income of $49,218 vs $105,853. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.5% in 15106 and 65.0% in 15142. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 3.8% — 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 $194,800 in 15106 versus $582,200 in 15142, with median rent of $999 and $1,762 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.1% vs 62.9%. 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.