ZIP 17901 vs ZIP 17954

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17901 (Pottsville, PA) and ZIP 17954 (Minersville, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17901 has a population of 23,990 at 119 people per square mile, while ZIP 17954 has 4,564 at 2,532 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 17901 reports a median household income of $62,484 against $53,806 in ZIP 17954, with per-capita income of $35,524 vs $25,650. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.0% in 17901 and 12.4% in 17954. Poverty rate reads 14.8% vs 26.4%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 4.3% — 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 $152,100 in 17901 versus $83,300 in 17954, with median rent of $825 and $782 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.1% vs 50.5%. 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.