ZIP 18351 vs ZIP 18343

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