ZIP 19126 vs ZIP 19138

This side-by-side compares ZIP 19126 (Philadelphia, PA) and ZIP 19138 (Philadelphia, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 19126 has a population of 15,758 at 5,323 people per square mile, while ZIP 19138 has 32,273 at 7,233 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 19126 reports a median household income of $53,176 against $57,744 in ZIP 19138, with per-capita income of $31,826 vs $31,101. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.0% in 19126 and 19.5% in 19138. Poverty rate reads 14.3% vs 21.8%, and unemployment 10.6% vs 11.0% — 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 $225,100 in 19126 versus $177,000 in 19138, with median rent of $1,119 and $1,169 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.2% vs 70.9%. 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.