ZIP 16851 vs ZIP 16827

This side-by-side compares ZIP 16851 (Lemont, PA) and ZIP 16827 (Boalsburg, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 16851 has a population of 866 at 81 people per square mile, while ZIP 16827 has 3,991 at 88 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 16851 reports a median household income of $100,768 against $103,558 in ZIP 16827, with per-capita income of $42,583 vs $57,661. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.1% in 16851 and 73.0% in 16827. Poverty rate reads 8.9% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 4.9% 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 $420,400 in 16851 versus $429,300 in 16827, with median rent of $2,164 and $1,236 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.6% vs 79.6%. 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.