ZIP 16686 vs ZIP 16617

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16686 (Tyrone, PA) and ZIP 16617 (Bellwood, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16686 has a population of 13,488 at 39 people per square mile, while ZIP 16617 has 2,806 at 667 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 16686 reports a median household income of $69,008 against $52,609 in ZIP 16617, with per-capita income of $36,064 vs $29,663. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.5% in 16686 and 25.3% in 16617. Poverty rate reads 9.5% vs 15.6%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 4.4% — 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 $173,000 in 16686 versus $145,500 in 16617, with median rent of $796 and $921 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.3% vs 77.6%. 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.