ZIP 18702 vs ZIP 18602

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18702 (Wilkes Barre, PA) and ZIP 18602 (Bear Creek, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18702 has a population of 40,295 at 224 people per square mile, while ZIP 18602 has 257 at 51 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 18702 reports a median household income of $56,378 against $160,962 in ZIP 18602, with per-capita income of $31,728 vs $56,296. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.6% in 18702 and 51.9% in 18602. Poverty rate reads 18.7% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 8.2% vs 0.8% — 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 $131,900 in 18702 versus $412,700 in 18602, with median rent of $1,011 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.5% vs 99.1%. 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.