ZIP 17921 vs ZIP 17936

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17921 (Ashland, PA) and ZIP 17936 (Gordon, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17921 has a population of 7,676 at 79 people per square mile, while ZIP 17936 has 763 at 497 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 17921 reports a median household income of $71,141 against $92,837 in ZIP 17936, with per-capita income of $32,384 vs $42,173. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.0% in 17921 and 20.9% in 17936. Poverty rate reads 10.8% vs 4.9%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 3.1% — 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 $149,500 in 17921 versus $122,700 in 17936, with median rent of $768 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.7% vs 71.5%. 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.