ZIP 03264 vs ZIP 03217

This side-by-side compares ZIP 03264 (Plymouth, 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 03264 has a population of 7,468 at 78 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 03264 reports a median household income of $76,892 against $54,607 in ZIP 03217, with per-capita income of $34,112 vs $35,495. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.0% in 03264 and 35.9% in 03217. Poverty rate reads 18.2% vs 21.1%, and unemployment 5.6% 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 $288,800 in 03264 versus $227,000 in 03217, with median rent of $1,108 and $1,096 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.2% 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.