ZIP 03609 vs ZIP 05158

This side-by-side compares ZIP 03609 (North Walpole, NH) and ZIP 05158 (Westminster, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 03609 has a population of 854 at 370 people per square mile, while ZIP 05158 has 1,049 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 03609 reports a median household income of $72,391 against $71,875 in ZIP 05158, with per-capita income of $40,086 vs $32,289. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.7% in 03609 and 37.6% in 05158. Poverty rate reads 11.5% vs 10.5%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 0.2% — 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 $201,000 in 03609 versus $253,000 in 05158, with median rent of $1,074 and $749 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.2% vs 91.6%. 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.