ZIP 17235 vs ZIP 17202

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17235 (Marion, PA) and ZIP 17202 (Chambersburg, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17235 has a population of 672 at 436 people per square mile, while ZIP 17202 has 30,200 at 98 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 17235 reports a median household income of — against $96,318 in ZIP 17202, with per-capita income of $27,937 vs $42,949. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.1% in 17235 and 28.1% in 17202. Poverty rate reads 22.8% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.0% — 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 $190,200 in 17235 versus $278,700 in 17202, with median rent of — and $1,229 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.2% vs 81.1%. 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.