ZIP code
17509
in Christiana, PennsylvaniaPopulation 5,135
39.72/ 100
Ranked #26,938 of 32,066 US ZIPs (bottom 16%)
Ranked #1,592 of 1,748 Pennsylvania ZIPs (bottom 9.0%)
Ranked #43 of 49 Lancaster, PA ZIPs (bottom 12.3%)
Ranks are modeled estimates — ZIPs a few hundred places apart are effectively tied.
Some domains have limited local data — read this Score as directional
What defines this ZIP
Metrics where this ZIP sits in the tails of the national distribution — the ones that most set it apart. Select any tile for its definition and methodology.
Nitrate in drinking water
56.2%
in the top 0.7% nationally
Lower is healthier
ST99thUS99thDefinition & source ›
The modeled share of this area’s domestic-well groundwater at or above the federal nitrate limit of 10 milligrams per liter.
A modeled likelihood for untreated groundwater, the source drawn on by private wells, which are federally unregulated. It is not a measurement of treated water delivered by a public system, and it is not a test of any individual well.
Full methodology ›Households without a vehicle
39.9%
in the top 1.5% nationally
Lower is healthier
ST98thUS99thDefinition & source ›
The share of households with no vehicle available.
Full methodology ›Home broadband subscription
52.5%
in the bottom 1.8% nationally
Higher is healthier
ST2ndUS2ndDefinition & source ›
The share of households with a broadband internet subscription.
Full methodology ›Industrial-pollution burden
in the top 3.2% nationally
Lower is healthier
ST95thUS97thDefinition & source ›
The EPA’s modeled screening score for industrial chemical releases, weighting the amounts released by their toxicity and how many people live nearby — a relative comparison score, not a measured exposure.
Full methodology ›Crowded housing
7.9%
in the top 6.8% nationally
Lower is healthier
ST98thUS93rdDefinition & source ›
The share of occupied homes with more than one person per room, the Census definition of crowded housing.
Full methodology ›Grocery access
0.2 per 1,000 residents
in the top 7.5% nationally
Higher is healthier
ST90thUS93rdDefinition & source ›
The number of full supermarkets inside this ZIP’s boundary, per 1,000 residents.
Counted from establishments located inside this ZIP’s boundary, so one just across the line is not counted. Where a ZIP has too few residents for the density to be reliable, no value is published rather than an unreliable one. ZipVitals’s food-access signal is derived from these in-ZIP densities — it is not USDA’s food-desert designation, which measures distance to the nearest supermarket. Where a leg is missing, a ZIP reads “not determinable,” never “not a food desert.”
Full methodology ›Tooth loss
20.3%
in the top 17% nationally
Lower is healthier
ST92ndUS83rdDefinition & source ›
The estimated share of adults aged 65 and older who have lost all of their natural teeth.
Full methodology ›Mammography
72.3%
in the bottom 27% nationally
Higher is healthier
ST4thUS27thDefinition & source ›
The estimated share of women aged 50–74 who had a mammogram within the past two years.
Full methodology ›Dry extreme heat
1 days/year
in the bottom 34% nationally
Lower is healthier
ST91stUS34thDefinition & source ›
The average number of days per year with a modeled daily high of at least 95 °F.
Full methodology ›The read
On what the available sources can show, Christiana, Pennsylvania (ZIP 17509) lands in the bottom 16% nationally (26,938th) and the bottom 9.0% of Pennsylvania (1,592nd), based on limited data; treat as directional.
Where the data reaches, it shows a few things about this area: grocery lands in the top 7.5% nationally, and outpatient sits in the top 11.9% nationally. Distance to a nursing home is at the national minimum, shared with about 27% of ZIPs. By contrast, modeled nitrate settles in the top 0.7% nationally, households without a vehicle resides in the top 1.5% nationally, and home broadband subscription registers in the bottom 1.8% nationally. Modeled industrial-pollution burden rests in the top 3.2% nationally, crowded housing stands in the top 6.8% nationally, and modeled radon lies in the top 14.4% nationally. Distance to an emergency room lands in the top 13.7% nationally.
Read against the ZIPs closest to it, industrial-pollution burden runs far lower than the surrounding ZIPs on this measure. To spell things out, nitrate is a groundwater compound from fertilizer, manure, and sewage, here a modeled estimate of the chance private-well levels exceed a benchmark. Industrial-pollution burden is the EPA's modeled screening score weighting industrial chemical releases by their toxicity and how many people live nearby. Radon is a radioactive soil gas the EPA identifies as the top cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers. Close by, ZIP 17527, just across the boundary, ranks healthier overall.
What’s driving this score
Nine domains make up the ZipVitals Score — here is how this ZIP does on each, and how much each one counts.
Compared with the ZIP codes measured across all nine scoring domains — not with all US ZIP codes.
Lifting this score
Climate / Disaster Risk
healthier than 67%
6%
About typical
Healthcare Access
healthier than 43%
6%
Holding it back
Social Need / SDOH
healthier than 13%
19%
Environmental Hazard
healthier than 13%
16%
Preventive CarePartial
healthier than 33%
15%
Not placed: Chronic Disease Burden and Risk Behavior — too little of each is measured here to compare reliably. They still count toward the score (together 38% of it); we just will not publish a standing we cannot stand behind.
No data: Mental Health and Disability — not measured in this ZIP, so it is left out of the score entirely rather than estimated.
“Share” is how much of this ZIP’s score the domain accounts for. Percentages are rounded; higher is healthier in every domain. How the score works, and who it compares you with ›
Findings that name this ZIP
One of our published findings lists this ZIP code. Each finding compares one published measure against a stated benchmark, and names only the ZIP codes whose estimates are reliable enough to rank. See all surprising findings.
Above what income predicts
The ZIP codes that outlive their incomes
Estimated life expectancy is 81.5 ± 1.8 years. A median household income of $77,238 predicts 79.1 years — 2.5 years above.
Ranked #651 of the 5,842 ZIP codes this finding names, ordered by years above what income predicts, highest first.
Nearby & similar ZIPs
Editorially selected — see how this ZIP compares to nearby and similar places.
Nearby
17527
Pennsylvaniashares a border
Score 43.60
Closest healthier
17562
Pennsylvaniashares a border
Score 42.66
Similar health profile
44307
Ohio99% similar profile
Score 26.04
How these were chosen: only ZIPs with a published Score appear — a nearby ZIP with too little data to score won’t. Nearby means closest by distance between ZIP boundaries, which can cross state lines. A similar health profile is a close match across the nine Score domains, not similar demographics. Distances are measured between ZIP boundaries — ZIPs that touch share a border. How distance is measured
Evidence
Every measure this page draws on, by source. Collapsed by default — the full data stays in the page for search engines either way.
Health OutcomesCDC PLACES 2022 · BRFSS
| Measure | Crude prevalence | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| All teeth lost among adults aged >=65 years | 20.3% | 16.5–24.2 |
PreventionCDC PLACES 2022 · BRFSS
| Measure | Crude prevalence | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| Colorectal cancer screening among adults aged 45–75 years | 66.2% | 60.7–71.2 |
| Visited dentist or dental clinic in the past year among adults | 60.6% | 56.7–64.2 |
| Mammography use among women aged 50-74 years | 72.3% | 63.7–79.6 |
Health Risk BehaviorsCDC PLACES 2022 · BRFSS
| Measure | Crude prevalence | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| Short sleep duration among adults | 38.5% | 31.9–45.3 |
Community & economyCensus ACS 5-Year · 2024 release · observed
| Measure | Value | US median (p10–p90) | PA median (p10–p90) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poverty rate | 13.3% | 10.6% (3.1–25.8%) n=32,364 | 9.3% (2.1–21.6%) n=1,759 |
| Uninsured 18–64 | 50.0% | 9.0% (1.5–24.3%) n=32,286 | 6.3% (0.0–16.6%) n=1,753 |
| No HS diploma (25+) | 35.1% | 7.9% (1.8–20.7%) n=32,505 | 7.0% (1.5–16.1%) n=1,762 |
| Bachelor's or higher (25+) | 11.9% | 23.3% (9.2–53.6%) n=32,505 | 21.9% (8.9–50.4%) n=1,762 |
| Unemployment rate (16+) | 1.7% | 3.9% (0.0–9.8%) n=32,274 | 3.9% (0.0–9.6%) n=1,755 |
| Households without a vehicle | 39.9% | 3.9% (0.0–12.5%) n=32,322 | 4.8% (0.0–15.6%) n=1,758 |
| Broadband subscription | 52.5% | 89.3% (75.1–97.1%) n=32,322 | 88.2% (75.7–97.3%) n=1,758 |
| Housing cost burden (≥30% income) | 28.2% | 23.7% (10.6–40.0%) n=32,322 | 21.9% (9.9–35.3%) n=1,758 |
| Homeownership rate | 63.3% | 78.7% (51.7–94.0%) n=32,322 | 80.1% (57.1–94.5%) n=1,758 |
| Crowded housing (>1 per room) | 7.9% | 1.3% (0.0–6.3%) n=32,322 | 0.6% (0.0–3.3%) n=1,758 |
| Foreign-born population | 1.8% | 2.6% (0.0–18.6%) n=32,553 | 1.4% (0.0–10.2%) n=1,763 |
| Single-parent households | 34.9% | 53.6% (37.3–74.1%) n=32,087 | 56.3% (38.5–72.8%) n=1,744 |
| Population 65+ | 15.9% | 19.4% (10.8–33.6%) n=32,553 | 21.1% (12.3–31.4%) n=1,763 |
| Median age | 27.7 yr | 42.2 yr (33.0–56.3) n=32,292 | 44.2 yr (33.9–55.5) n=1,752 |
| Median household income | $77,238 | $72,070 ($46,039–$118,707) n=30,318 | $71,250 ($50,880–$112,747) n=1,642 |
| Median home value | $331,600 | $222,200 ($100,300–$579,820) n=30,049 | $197,200 ($99,000–$382,120) n=1,649 |
| Median gross rent | $1,057 | $1,021 ($677–$1,912) n=25,670 | $983 ($701–$1,527) n=1,367 |
Life expectancyNCHS / RWJF USALEEP · model-based
| Measure | Value | US median (p10–p90) | PA median (p10–p90) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth | 81.5 yr ± 0.91 | 78.9 yr (74.7–82.8) n=31,308 | 79.2 yr (76.0–82.0) n=1,730 |
About the ± — it’s this estimate’s give-or-take (statisticians call it the standard error). The true life expectancy for this ZIP most likely falls within 0.91 years of 81.5, and it’s very unlikely to be off by more than twice that.
More ZIPs to explore ▾More ZIPs to explore ▴
How these lists were built: they draw only from ZIPs that have a published Score, so ZIPs with too little data to score are not listed. Distance-based lists use distance between ZIP boundaries with no state filter, so an out-of-state ZIP can appear. Statistically similar means a close match across the nine Score domains, not a demographic match: the measure is the cosine similarity between two ZIPs’ domain scores, taken over the domains both ZIPs have data for and only where that overlap covers at least six of the nine — and where no ZIP clears that minimum-overlap floor, that list is left out rather than filled with a weak match. How distance is measured