ZIP 18343 vs ZIP 18351

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18343 (Mount Bethel, PA) and ZIP 18351 (Portland, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18343 has a population of 3,982 at 69 people per square mile, while ZIP 18351 has 518 at 543 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 18343 reports a median household income of $80,491 against $52,679 in ZIP 18351, with per-capita income of $46,293 vs $30,981. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.3% in 18343 and 18.8% in 18351. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 20.0%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 4.0% — 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 $326,300 in 18343 versus $266,900 in 18351, with median rent of $1,066 and $1,217 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 54.0%. 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.