ZIP 17862 vs ZIP 17842

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17862 (Penns Creek, PA) and ZIP 17842 (Middleburg, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17862 has a population of 577 at 542 people per square mile, while ZIP 17842 has 8,910 at 42 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 17862 reports a median household income of $52,868 against $62,940 in ZIP 17842, with per-capita income of $13,486 vs $32,917. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 17862 and 17.5% in 17842. Poverty rate reads 39.1% vs 11.6%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 2.1% — 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 $181,300 in 17862 versus $210,500 in 17842, with median rent of — and $878 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.1% vs 74.1%. 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.