ZIP 17517 vs ZIP 17578

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17517 (Denver, PA) and ZIP 17578 (Stevens, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17517 has a population of 15,391 at 170 people per square mile, while ZIP 17578 has 7,485 at 189 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 17517 reports a median household income of $99,202 against $81,990 in ZIP 17578, with per-capita income of $41,047 vs $33,053. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.5% in 17517 and 20.5% in 17578. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 11.1%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 2.2% — 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 $296,700 in 17517 versus $314,900 in 17578, with median rent of $1,224 and $1,205 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.5% vs 78.5%. 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.