ZIP 18821 vs ZIP 18822

This side-by-side compares ZIP 18821 (Great Bend, PA) and ZIP 18822 (Hallstead, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 18821 has a population of 1,153 at 129 people per square mile, while ZIP 18822 has 3,642 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 18821 reports a median household income of $52,857 against $60,132 in ZIP 18822, with per-capita income of $36,411 vs $34,814. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.3% in 18821 and 19.3% in 18822. Poverty rate reads 9.8% vs 13.3%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 9.8% — 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 $171,800 in 18821 versus $204,100 in 18822, with median rent of $713 and $929 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.9% vs 75.4%. 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.