ZIP 03256 vs ZIP 03217

This side-by-side compares ZIP 03256 (New Hampton, NH) and ZIP 03217 (Ashland, NH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 03256 has a population of 2,169 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 03217 has 2,076 at 73 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 03256 reports a median household income of $87,917 against $54,607 in ZIP 03217, with per-capita income of $42,454 vs $35,495. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.7% in 03256 and 35.9% in 03217. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 21.1%, and unemployment 0.6% vs 3.0% — 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 $382,000 in 03256 versus $227,000 in 03217, with median rent of $749 and $1,096 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.6% vs 64.1%. 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.