ZIP 15486 vs ZIP 15430

This side-by-side compares ZIP 15486 (Vanderbilt, PA) and ZIP 15430 (Dickerson Run, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 15486 has a population of 2,303 at 46 people per square mile, while ZIP 15430 has 314 at 342 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 15486 reports a median household income of $66,250 against $71,184 in ZIP 15430, with per-capita income of $39,064 vs $30,406. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.4% in 15486 and 0.0% in 15430. Poverty rate reads 10.2% vs 13.8%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 20.3% — 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 $164,000 in 15486 versus $93,000 in 15430, with median rent of $800 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.6% vs 93.0%. 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.