ZIP 05158 vs ZIP 03609

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05158 (Westminster, VT) and ZIP 03609 (North Walpole, NH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05158 has a population of 1,049 at 35 people per square mile, while ZIP 03609 has 854 at 370 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 05158 reports a median household income of $71,875 against $72,391 in ZIP 03609, with per-capita income of $32,289 vs $40,086. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.6% in 05158 and 30.7% in 03609. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 11.5%, and unemployment 0.2% vs 2.4% — 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 $253,000 in 05158 versus $201,000 in 03609, with median rent of $749 and $1,074 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.6% vs 69.2%. 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.