ZIP 19086 vs ZIP 19081

This side-by-side compares ZIP 19086 (Wallingford, PA) and ZIP 19081 (Swarthmore, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 19086 has a population of 11,420 at 1,144 people per square mile, while ZIP 19081 has 10,337 at 1,787 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 19086 reports a median household income of $148,920 against $134,135 in ZIP 19081, with per-capita income of $66,227 vs $63,105. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 66.7% in 19086 and 64.4% in 19081. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 6.4% — 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 $446,400 in 19086 versus $378,600 in 19081, with median rent of $2,059 and $1,535 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.7% vs 79.9%. 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.