ZIP 18081 vs ZIP 18055

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18081 (Springtown, PA) and ZIP 18055 (Hellertown, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18081 has a population of 357 at 262 people per square mile, while ZIP 18055 has 11,780 at 212 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 18081 reports a median household income of — against $90,234 in ZIP 18055, with per-capita income of $37,746 vs $47,631. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 53.7% in 18081 and 37.0% in 18055. Poverty rate reads 18.8% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 6.0% — 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 — in 18081 versus $324,000 in 18055, with median rent of — and $1,397 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 54.5% vs 78.0%. 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.