ZIP 16802 vs ZIP 16803

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16802 (University Park, PA) and ZIP 16803 (State College, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16802 has a population of 12,764 at 5,910 people per square mile, while ZIP 16803 has 23,685 at 377 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 16802 reports a median household income of — against $73,532 in ZIP 16803, with per-capita income of $3,853 vs $48,281. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 73.3% in 16802 and 73.1% in 16803. Poverty rate reads 26.7% vs 25.3%, and unemployment 10.2% 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 — in 16802 versus $413,700 in 16803, with median rent of — and $1,356 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 0.0% vs 43.9%. 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.