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Dauphin County · Pennsylvania

ZIP code 17048

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 17048 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
3,801

ZCTA residents

Median income
$72,873

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$136,300

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
6%

Pennsylvania state rate

Quick answer

ZIP 17048 sits in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and is home to 3,801 people. Median household income is $72,873, the median home is worth $136,300 and median gross rent is $809. 68.4% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 6% (Pennsylvania state rate).

County
Dauphin County

FIPS 42043

State
Pennsylvania (PA)

1,833 ZIPs covered

Area codes
Not published

No NANPA match for this ZIP

Metro area
Outside covered metros

Rate jurisdiction used for tax

The numbers for 17048

American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.

Population
3,801ZIP 17048 residents
Median household income
$72,873Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$136,300Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
$809Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
41.4 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
68.4%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 17048 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 17048 is a small town in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, with 3,801 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #723 of 1,833 ranked by population — larger than 60% of them. The median age here is 41.4 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. 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 17048 earn a median of $72,873 a year, 7.2% below the national figure of $78,538. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 17.7% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 17048 is valued at $136,300, 55.1% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $809 a month, 42.5% below the national figure, or roughly $9,708 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 13.3% 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 1.9×, 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. 68.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. 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 17048 in context

How 17048 sits inside Dauphin County and Pennsylvania.

ZIP 17048 is tabulated inside Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, one of 26 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 17048 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 17048 reports a median household income of $72,873, 4% above the $69,958 county median, and 4% above the $70,000 typical PA ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $136,300, 24% below the county figure and 27% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $809 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 17048 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 17048 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 17048

What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.

Rate applied
6%State base rate only
Tax on $100
$6Rounded to the dollar
Tax on $1,000
$60Before any exemptions

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.

Rent burden
13%Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
1.9×Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$707/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
17.7%Residents below poverty line

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 17048 compares

ZIP 17048 against the median ZIP in Dauphin County and across Pennsylvania.

MeasureZIP 17048County medianState medianvs state
Median household income$72,873$69,958$70,000+4%
Median home value$136,300$180,100$187,400-27%
Median gross rent$809$967$953-15%
Population3,8015,3132,230+70%

Medians are computed across the 26 ZIP areas in Dauphin County and the 1833 ZIP areas in Pennsylvania.

Statewide rank

Where this ZIP places among all 1833 Pennsylvania ZIP areas.

Income

richer than 56% of 1,668 state ZIPs

#729
Home value

above 28% of 1,672 state ZIPs

#1,204
Population

larger than 61% of 1,833 state ZIPs

#723

Comparable ZIP codes

Pennsylvania ZIP areas with almost the same household income.

ZIPCountyIncomeHome valueRent
15021Washington County$72,849$179,800$796
16639Cambria County$72,911$128,800$583
17721Clinton County$72,826$149,300$812
16669Huntingdon County$72,813$206,500$775
18644Luzerne County$72,803$167,000$920
16613Cambria County$73,056$141,100$491

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Dauphin County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

ZIP 17048 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 17048?
ZIP 17048 lies mostly in Dauphin 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 17048?
Pennsylvania charges 6% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
Is 17048 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs $809 a month, about 13% of median household income, and the median home is worth $136,300 — -27% 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.

Related pages for this area.

Sources & transparency

Every figure on this page is a published estimate for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 17048, except the affordability ratios and mortgage estimate, which we derive from those medians and label as estimates.

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.