ZIP 17237 vs ZIP 17261

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17237 (Mont Alto, PA) and ZIP 17261 (South Mountain, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17237 has a population of 1,917 at 254 people per square mile, while ZIP 17261 has 193 at 31 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 17237 reports a median household income of $80,903 against — in ZIP 17261, with per-capita income of $35,775 vs —. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.7% in 17237 and — in 17261. Poverty rate reads 9.8% vs —, and unemployment 8.0% vs — — 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 $193,600 in 17237 versus — in 17261, with median rent of $1,296 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.9% vs —. 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.