ZIP 17936 vs ZIP 17921

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