ZIP 18636 vs ZIP 18618

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18636 (Noxen, PA) and ZIP 18618 (Harveys Lake, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18636 has a population of 1,438 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 18618 has 3,793 at 83 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 18636 reports a median household income of $57,132 against $83,500 in ZIP 18618, with per-capita income of $29,769 vs $57,500. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.1% in 18636 and 40.2% in 18618. Poverty rate reads 11.7% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 11.6% vs 3.3% — 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 $180,200 in 18636 versus $244,300 in 18618, with median rent of $1,074 and $1,381 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.3% vs 81.7%. 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.