ZIP 05343 vs ZIP 05355

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05343 (Jamaica, VT) and ZIP 05355 (Wardsboro, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05343 has a population of 917 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 05355 has 813 at 12 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 05343 reports a median household income of $84,375 against $64,044 in ZIP 05355, with per-capita income of $54,616 vs $35,971. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.3% in 05343 and 38.9% in 05355. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 8.7%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 6.2% — 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 $354,500 in 05343 versus $307,900 in 05355, with median rent of $861 and $1,583 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.4% vs 97.5%. 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.