ZIP 05038 vs ZIP 05077

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05038 (Chelsea, VT) and ZIP 05077 (Tunbridge, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05038 has a population of 1,230 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 05077 has 1,215 at 11 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 05038 reports a median household income of $62,000 against $92,656 in ZIP 05077, with per-capita income of $33,627 vs $40,756. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.8% in 05038 and 43.0% in 05077. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 14.8%, and unemployment 0.9% vs 0.5% — 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 $254,800 in 05038 versus $310,900 in 05077, with median rent of $1,567 and $1,298 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.7% vs 83.0%. 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.