ZIP 15857 vs ZIP 15846

This side-by-side compares ZIP 15857 (Saint Marys, PA) and ZIP 15846 (Kersey, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 15857 has a population of 13,212 at 51 people per square mile, while ZIP 15846 has 3,636 at 15 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 15857 reports a median household income of $67,662 against $70,662 in ZIP 15846, with per-capita income of $37,095 vs $40,308. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.5% in 15857 and 26.9% in 15846. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 1.7% — 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 $150,100 in 15857 versus $165,700 in 15846, with median rent of $762 and $713 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.9% vs 81.1%. 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.