ZIP 18504 vs ZIP 18517

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18504 (Scranton, PA) and ZIP 18517 (Taylor, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18504 has a population of 21,265 at 952 people per square mile, while ZIP 18517 has 5,274 at 486 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 18504 reports a median household income of $55,036 against $77,120 in ZIP 18517, with per-capita income of $29,044 vs $38,433. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.7% in 18504 and 22.6% in 18517. Poverty rate reads 23.9% vs 9.7%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 6.3% — 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 $160,900 in 18504 versus $190,100 in 18517, with median rent of $1,050 and $1,203 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.9% vs 67.1%. 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.