ZIP 18030 vs ZIP 18235

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18030 (Bowmanstown, PA) and ZIP 18235 (Lehighton, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18030 has a population of 623 at 536 people per square mile, while ZIP 18235 has 19,353 at 94 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 18030 reports a median household income of $68,173 against $72,571 in ZIP 18235, with per-capita income of $34,467 vs $39,723. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.5% in 18030 and 19.8% in 18235. Poverty rate reads 11.1% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 15.4% vs 5.6% — 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 $182,400 in 18030 versus $233,600 in 18235, with median rent of $820 and $1,055 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.4% vs 77.0%. 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.