ZIP 05408 vs ZIP 05401

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05408 (Burlington, VT) and ZIP 05401 (Burlington, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05408 has a population of 10,114 at 925 people per square mile, while ZIP 05401 has 28,185 at 1,837 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 05408 reports a median household income of $95,018 against $65,657 in ZIP 05401, with per-capita income of $51,617 vs $40,162. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 56.2% in 05408 and 62.6% in 05401. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 25.0%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 4.4% — 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 $400,600 in 05408 versus $492,100 in 05401, with median rent of $1,457 and $1,665 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.3% vs 31.4%. 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.