ZIP 18517 vs ZIP 18504

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