ZIP 05201 vs ZIP 05262

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05201 (Bennington, VT) and ZIP 05262 (Shaftsbury, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05201 has a population of 14,851 at 62 people per square mile, while ZIP 05262 has 2,547 at 13 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 05201 reports a median household income of $59,798 against $71,417 in ZIP 05262, with per-capita income of $37,172 vs $39,083. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.0% in 05201 and 34.9% in 05262. Poverty rate reads 14.0% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 4.0% — 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 $212,700 in 05201 versus $253,600 in 05262, with median rent of $1,129 and $1,077 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.9% 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.