ZIP 18656 vs ZIP 18655

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18656 (Sweet Valley, PA) and ZIP 18655 (Shickshinny, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18656 has a population of 2,195 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 18655 has 6,278 at 34 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 18656 reports a median household income of $76,804 against $72,571 in ZIP 18655, with per-capita income of $38,208 vs $37,674. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 18656 and 18.4% in 18655. Poverty rate reads 7.9% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 7.7% — 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 $233,000 in 18656 versus $190,700 in 18655, with median rent of $1,010 and $973 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.8% vs 83.0%. 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.