ZIP 16801 vs ZIP 16823

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16801 (State College, PA) and ZIP 16823 (Bellefonte, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16801 has a population of 42,812 at 529 people per square mile, while ZIP 16823 has 26,617 at 80 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 16801 reports a median household income of $61,836 against $76,245 in ZIP 16823, with per-capita income of $42,464 vs $38,332. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.6% in 16801 and 28.0% in 16823. Poverty rate reads 27.1% vs 7.6%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 3.3% — 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 $414,600 in 16801 versus $272,800 in 16823, with median rent of $1,264 and $1,045 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.2% vs 70.5%. 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.