ZIP 18701 vs ZIP 18704

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18701 (Wilkes Barre, PA) and ZIP 18704 (Kingston, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18701 has a population of 3,447 at 2,491 people per square mile, while ZIP 18704 has 31,206 at 1,204 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 18701 reports a median household income of $33,329 against $64,444 in ZIP 18704, with per-capita income of $18,702 vs $38,152. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.1% in 18701 and 27.2% in 18704. Poverty rate reads 20.0% vs 15.8%, and unemployment 8.3% vs 7.3% — 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 $203,600 in 18701 versus $162,000 in 18704, with median rent of $902 and $1,006 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 7.8% vs 60.1%. 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.