ZIP 16161 vs ZIP 16121

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16161 (Wheatland, PA) and ZIP 16121 (Farrell, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16161 has a population of 644 at 282 people per square mile, while ZIP 16121 has 4,941 at 841 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 16161 reports a median household income of $40,536 against $42,595 in ZIP 16121, with per-capita income of $24,621 vs $30,068. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.6% in 16161 and 15.2% in 16121. Poverty rate reads 34.4% vs 23.7%, and unemployment 9.9% vs 7.9% — 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 $67,700 in 16161 versus $87,800 in 16121, with median rent of $613 and $902 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.1% vs 62.3%. 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.