ZIP 17815 vs ZIP 18603

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17815 (Bloomsburg, PA) and ZIP 18603 (Berwick, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17815 has a population of 30,967 at 88 people per square mile, while ZIP 18603 has 19,320 at 145 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 17815 reports a median household income of $67,510 against $60,352 in ZIP 18603, with per-capita income of $32,419 vs $33,105. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.9% in 17815 and 22.1% in 18603. Poverty rate reads 16.1% vs 13.4%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 5.9% - 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 $222,900 in 17815 versus $170,500 in 18603, with median rent of $1,025 and $810 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.0% vs 71.7%. 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.