ZIP 15655 vs ZIP 15658

This side-by-side compares ZIP 15655 (Laughlintown, PA) and ZIP 15658 (Ligonier, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 15655 has a population of 423 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 15658 has 8,916 at 35 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 15655 reports a median household income of $31,635 against $82,771 in ZIP 15658, with per-capita income of $24,711 vs $49,330. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.6% in 15655 and 38.9% in 15658. Poverty rate reads 28.9% vs 8.2%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 2.7% — 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 $148,300 in 15655 versus $245,400 in 15658, with median rent of — and $943 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.5% vs 84.6%. 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.