ZIP 17331 vs ZIP 17344

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17331 (Hanover, PA) and ZIP 17344 (Mc Sherrystown, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17331 has a population of 50,292 at 256 people per square mile, while ZIP 17344 has 3,656 at 1,767 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 17331 reports a median household income of $79,488 against $65,833 in ZIP 17344, with per-capita income of $39,956 vs $30,709. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.7% in 17331 and 16.8% in 17344. Poverty rate reads 8.5% vs 17.1%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 7.4% — 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 $240,800 in 17331 versus $193,500 in 17344, with median rent of $1,198 and $1,387 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.4% vs 56.6%. 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.