ZIP 17316 vs ZIP 17301

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17316 (East Berlin, PA) and ZIP 17301 (Abbottstown, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17316 has a population of 8,266 at 77 people per square mile, while ZIP 17301 has 4,053 at 119 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 17316 reports a median household income of $90,664 against $84,712 in ZIP 17301, with per-capita income of $42,749 vs $39,786. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.6% in 17316 and 17.2% in 17301. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 1.5% — 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 $293,200 in 17316 versus $250,900 in 17301, with median rent of $980 and $1,272 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.7% vs 82.6%. 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.