ZIP 05252 vs ZIP 05254

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05252 (East Arlington, VT) and ZIP 05254 (Manchester, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05252 has a population of 274 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 05254 has 273 at 52 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 05252 reports a median household income of $58,750 against $122,868 in ZIP 05254, with per-capita income of $24,624 vs $56,664. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.0% in 05252 and 67.5% in 05254. Poverty rate reads 10.1% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 0.0% — 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 $217,500 in 05252 versus $558,300 in 05254, with median rent of $1,385 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.0% vs 69.5%. 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.