ZIP 18216 vs ZIP 18230

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18216 (Beaver Meadows, PA) and ZIP 18230 (Junedale, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18216 has a population of 1,067 at 80 people per square mile, while ZIP 18230 has 132 at 19 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 18216 reports a median household income of $49,350 against — in ZIP 18230, with per-capita income of $29,654 vs $26,368. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.4% in 18216 and 7.8% in 18230. Poverty rate reads 18.4% vs 31.6%, and unemployment 7.2% vs 26.1% — 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 $133,200 in 18216 versus $96,800 in 18230, with median rent of $1,246 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.4% vs 100.0%. 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.