ZIP 17728 vs ZIP 17771

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17728 (Cogan Station, PA) and ZIP 17771 (Trout Run, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17728 has a population of 5,120 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 17771 has 3,158 at 6 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 17728 reports a median household income of $77,165 against $71,016 in ZIP 17771, with per-capita income of $41,578 vs $37,455. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.6% in 17728 and 19.9% in 17771. Poverty rate reads 7.2% vs 11.8%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 5.2% — 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 $235,500 in 17728 versus $198,000 in 17771, with median rent of $802 and $922 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.3% vs 84.7%. 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.