ZIP 03281 vs ZIP 03046

This side-by-side compares ZIP 03281 (Weare, NH) and ZIP 03046 (Dunbarton, NH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 03281 has a population of 8,785 at 57 people per square mile, while ZIP 03046 has 2,758 at 35 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 03281 reports a median household income of $118,271 against $124,348 in ZIP 03046, with per-capita income of $55,452 vs $59,182. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 41.2% in 03281 and 39.6% in 03046. Poverty rate reads 1.4% vs 3.0%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 4.8% — 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 $396,300 in 03281 versus $484,100 in 03046, with median rent of $1,541 and $1,166 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.5% vs 95.1%. 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.