ZIP 15209 vs ZIP 15223

This side-by-side compares ZIP 15209 (Pittsburgh, PA) and ZIP 15223 (Pittsburgh, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 15209 has a population of 12,438 at 1,065 people per square mile, while ZIP 15223 has 7,236 at 1,458 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 15209 reports a median household income of $85,542 against $61,083 in ZIP 15223, with per-capita income of $51,194 vs $37,959. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.3% in 15209 and 29.4% in 15223. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 14.7%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 7.4% — 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 $233,900 in 15209 versus $166,300 in 15223, with median rent of $1,133 and $1,014 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.4% vs 60.9%. 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.