ZIP 17740 vs ZIP 17721

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17740 (Jersey Shore, PA) and ZIP 17721 (Avis, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17740 has a population of 12,754 at 36 people per square mile, while ZIP 17721 has 1,604 at 838 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 17740 reports a median household income of $70,236 against $59,073 in ZIP 17721, with per-capita income of $32,160 vs $31,691. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.7% in 17740 and 21.8% in 17721. Poverty rate reads 10.7% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 6.0% — 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 $179,600 in 17740 versus $140,800 in 17721, with median rent of $863 and $825 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.7% vs 76.6%. 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.