ZIP 17522 vs ZIP 17501

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17522 (Ephrata, PA) and ZIP 17501 (Akron, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17522 has a population of 32,483 at 287 people per square mile, while ZIP 17501 has 4,307 at 1,195 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 17522 reports a median household income of $74,828 against $78,182 in ZIP 17501, with per-capita income of $39,240 vs $38,585. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 17522 and 19.1% in 17501. Poverty rate reads 6.8% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 1.6% — 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 $285,200 in 17522 versus $258,900 in 17501, with median rent of $1,240 and $1,174 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.5% vs 66.5%. 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.