ZIP 17953 vs ZIP 17959

This side-by-side compares ZIP 17953 (Middleport, PA) and ZIP 17959 (New Philadelphia, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 17953 has a population of 469 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 17959 has 1,422 at 61 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 17953 reports a median household income of $75,000 against $52,361 in ZIP 17959, with per-capita income of $28,651 vs $30,261. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.2% in 17953 and 14.7% in 17959. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 11.0%, and unemployment 10.5% vs 7.3% — 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 $122,800 in 17953 versus $90,000 in 17959, with median rent of $638 and $823 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.4% vs 77.7%. 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.