ZIP 17959 vs ZIP 17953

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