ZIP 17070 vs ZIP 17104

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17070 (New Cumberland, PA) and ZIP 17104 (Harrisburg, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17070 has a population of 15,692 at 452 people per square mile, while ZIP 17104 has 20,962 at 3,014 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 17070 reports a median household income of $88,000 against $46,510 in ZIP 17104, with per-capita income of $46,307 vs $23,288. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.7% in 17070 and 17.1% in 17104. Poverty rate reads 8.4% vs 29.6%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 15.5% — 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 $253,700 in 17070 versus $104,800 in 17104, with median rent of $1,039 and $963 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.2% vs 45.6%. 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.