ZIP 17834 vs ZIP 17832

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17834 (Kulpmont, PA) and ZIP 17832 (Marion Heights, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17834 has a population of 3,565 at 268 people per square mile, while ZIP 17832 has 628 at 621 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 17834 reports a median household income of $56,167 against $52,569 in ZIP 17832, with per-capita income of $41,471 vs $26,455. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.0% in 17834 and 8.3% in 17832. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 22.3%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 2.9% — 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 $94,000 in 17834 versus $89,800 in 17832, with median rent of $732 and $1,156 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.1% 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.