ZIP 16828 vs ZIP 16851

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16828 (Centre Hall, PA) and ZIP 16851 (Lemont, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16828 has a population of 4,478 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 16851 has 866 at 81 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 16828 reports a median household income of $76,468 against $100,768 in ZIP 16851, with per-capita income of $40,376 vs $42,583. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.1% in 16828 and 44.1% in 16851. Poverty rate reads 5.6% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 4.9% — 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 $273,800 in 16828 versus $420,400 in 16851, with median rent of $1,163 and $2,164 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.4% vs 73.6%. 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.