
Somerset County · Pennsylvania
ZIP code 15557
- Population
- 3,430
- Median income
- $59,833
- Median home
- $123,900
- Sales tax
- 6%
ZCTA residents
Household, past 12 months
Owner-occupied value
Pennsylvania state rate
Quick answer
ZIP 15557 sits in Somerset County, Pennsylvania and is home to 3,430 people. Median household income is $59,833, the median home is worth $123,900 and median gross rent is $697. 82.5% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 6% (Pennsylvania state rate).
- County
- Somerset County
- State
- Pennsylvania (PA)
- Area codes
- Not published
- Metro area
- Outside covered metros
FIPS 42111
1,833 ZIPs covered
No NANPA match for this ZIP
Rate jurisdiction used for tax
The numbers for 15557
American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.
- Population
- 3,430ZIP 15557 residents
- Median household income
- $59,833Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $123,900Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $697Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 45.8 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 82.5%Owner-occupied households
ZIP 15557 in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
ZIP 15557 is a small town in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, with 3,430 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #758 of 1,833 ranked by population — larger than 58% of them. The median age here is 45.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.
Households in ZIP 15557 earn a median of $59,833 a year, 23.8% below the national figure of $78,538. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 10.6% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 15557 is valued at $123,900, 59.2% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $697 a month, 50.4% below the national figure, or roughly $8,364 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 14% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 82.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, an owner-dominated market where rental listings are scarce and rent medians rest on a thin sample. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.
No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
Reading ZIP 15557 in context
How 15557 sits inside Somerset County and Pennsylvania.
ZIP 15557 is tabulated inside Somerset County, Pennsylvania, one of 35 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 1,833 across Pennsylvania. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 15557 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.
Against its own county, 15557 reports a median household income of $59,833, close to the $60,972 county median, and 15% below the $70,000 typical PA ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $123,900, close to the county figure and 34% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $697 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.
Pennsylvania charges 6% statewide, and local governments overlapping 15557 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.
Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 15557 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.
Sales tax in 15557
What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.
Pennsylvania levies 6% statewide, and counties, cities and special districts inside this ZIP can add their own local rate on top. Check the county page for the local component before you quote a price.
Affordability in this ZIP
Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.
A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.
How 15557 compares
ZIP 15557 against the median ZIP in Somerset County and across Pennsylvania.
| Measure | ZIP 15557 | County median | State median | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $59,833 | $60,972 | $70,000 | -15% |
| Median home value | $123,900 | $121,450 | $187,400 | -34% |
| Median gross rent | $697 | $739 | $953 | -27% |
| Population | 3,430 | 867 | 2,230 | +54% |
Medians are computed across the 35 ZIP areas in Somerset County and the 1833 ZIP areas in Pennsylvania.
Statewide rank
Where this ZIP places among all 1833 Pennsylvania ZIP areas.
- Income
- #1,200
- Home value
- #1,276
- Population
- #758
richer than 28% of 1,668 state ZIPs
above 24% of 1,672 state ZIPs
larger than 59% of 1,833 state ZIPs
Comparable ZIP codes
Pennsylvania ZIP areas with almost the same household income.
Nearby ZIP codes
Other ZIP codes filed under Somerset County.
Adjacent ZIP Codes
Other ZIP codes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
ZIP 15557 questions
Common questions about this ZIP code.
- Where is ZIP code 15557?
- ZIP 15557 lies mostly in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
- What sales tax do I pay in 15557?
- Pennsylvania charges 6% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
- Is 15557 expensive to live in?
- Median rent runs $697 a month, about 14% of median household income, and the median home is worth $123,900 — -34% against the typical Pennsylvania ZIP.
- Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
- Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.
Keep going
Related pages for this area.
Sources & transparency
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates — 2019-2023 ACS 5-year — population, income, housing
- Census 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file — County assignment by largest land-area overlap
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — Sales tax rates and local add-ons
Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.