ZIP 16101 vs ZIP 16117

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16101 (New Castle, PA) and ZIP 16117 (Ellwood City, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16101 has a population of 34,042 at 185 people per square mile, while ZIP 16117 has 17,185 at 180 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 16101 reports a median household income of $51,128 against $73,045 in ZIP 16117, with per-capita income of $30,309 vs $40,498. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.9% in 16101 and 24.9% in 16117. Poverty rate reads 19.4% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 4.7% — 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 $110,600 in 16101 versus $153,600 in 16117, with median rent of $725 and $893 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.4% vs 77.3%. 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.