ZIP 16505 vs ZIP 16502

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16505 (Erie, PA) and ZIP 16502 (Erie, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16505 has a population of 17,168 at 564 people per square mile, while ZIP 16502 has 16,664 at 2,489 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 16505 reports a median household income of $72,938 against $38,566 in ZIP 16502, with per-capita income of $50,524 vs $26,082. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.9% in 16505 and 19.5% in 16502. Poverty rate reads 10.6% vs 29.9%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 9.3% — 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 $211,700 in 16505 versus $93,000 in 16502, with median rent of $881 and $851 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.7% vs 39.4%. 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.