ZIP 18461 vs ZIP 18455

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18461 (Starlight, PA) and ZIP 18455 (Preston Park, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18461 has a population of 404 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 18455 has 105 at 9 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 18461 reports a median household income of $42,321 against $57,115 in ZIP 18455, with per-capita income of $40,595 vs $42,021. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.0% in 18461 and 3.9% in 18455. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 3.4%, 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 $198,200 in 18461 versus $236,100 in 18455, with median rent of $907 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.4% vs 89.1%. 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.