ZIP 19609 vs ZIP 19610

This side-by-side compares ZIP 19609 (Reading, PA) and ZIP 19610 (Reading, PA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 19609 has a population of 9,946 at 1,548 people per square mile, while ZIP 19610 has 15,258 at 838 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 19609 reports a median household income of $82,576 against $87,374 in ZIP 19610, with per-capita income of $40,431 vs $60,752. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.0% in 19609 and 54.5% in 19610. Poverty rate reads 7.4% vs 6.3%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 2.1% — 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 $247,300 in 19609 versus $343,600 in 19610, with median rent of $1,246 and $1,670 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 66.9%. 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.