ZIP 03810 vs ZIP 03853

This side-by-side compares ZIP 03810 (Alton Bay, NH) and ZIP 03853 (Mirror Lake, NH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 03810 has a population of 1,538 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 03853 has 602 at 29 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 03810 reports a median household income of $148,261 against $103,900 in ZIP 03853, with per-capita income of $72,017 vs $60,940. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.1% in 03810 and 49.1% in 03853. Poverty rate reads 2.5% vs 6.1%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 5.6% — 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 $569,200 in 03810 versus $572,300 in 03853, with median rent of — and $1,363 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 98.5% vs 85.9%. 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.