ZIP 17742 vs ZIP 17774

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17742 (Lairdsville, PA) and ZIP 17774 (Unityville, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17742 has a population of 39 at 198 people per square mile, while ZIP 17774 has 1,277 at 10 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 17742 reports a median household income of $71,250 against $70,556 in ZIP 17774, with per-capita income of $41,571 vs $39,873. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.8% in 17742 and 25.3% in 17774. Poverty rate reads 4.8% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 8.3% vs 8.6% - 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 $160,000 in 17742 versus $236,100 in 17774, with median rent of - and $796 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.7% vs 85.2%. 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.