ZIP 05301 vs ZIP 05346

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05301 (Brattleboro, VT) and ZIP 05346 (Putney, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05301 has a population of 16,820 at 43 people per square mile, while ZIP 05346 has 5,184 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 05301 reports a median household income of $65,910 against $79,118 in ZIP 05346, with per-capita income of $45,322 vs $46,324. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.6% in 05301 and 52.1% in 05346. Poverty rate reads 15.0% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 3.6% — 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 $270,900 in 05301 versus $320,800 in 05346, with median rent of $1,101 and $810 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.6% vs 82.8%. 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.