ZIP 03254 vs ZIP 03850

This side-by-side compares ZIP 03254 (Moultonborough, NH) and ZIP 03850 (Melvin Village, NH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 03254 has a population of 4,049 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 03850 has 372 at 48 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 03254 reports a median household income of $106,440 against $101,298 in ZIP 03850, with per-capita income of $58,424 vs $41,064. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.5% in 03254 and 14.9% in 03850. Poverty rate reads 2.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 21.1% — 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 $641,300 in 03254 versus $428,300 in 03850, with median rent of $1,452 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.6% vs 100.0%. 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.