ZIP 17048 vs ZIP 17030

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17048 (Lykens, PA) and ZIP 17030 (Gratz, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17048 has a population of 4,046 at 45 people per square mile, while ZIP 17030 has 832 at 79 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 17048 reports a median household income of $73,993 against - in ZIP 17030, with per-capita income of $33,415 vs $35,580. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 17048 and 9.9% in 17030. Poverty rate reads 16.6% vs 31.6%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 0.0% - 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 $144,200 in 17048 versus $225,000 in 17030, with median rent of $788 and $770 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.2% vs 30.4%. 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.