ZIP 05443 vs ZIP 05487

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05443 (Bristol, VT) and ZIP 05487 (Starksboro, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05443 has a population of 6,656 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 05487 has 1,498 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 05443 reports a median household income of $88,594 against $76,750 in ZIP 05487, with per-capita income of $50,800 vs $40,367. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.1% in 05443 and 39.3% in 05487. Poverty rate reads 8.9% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 3.1% — 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 $356,600 in 05443 versus $265,000 in 05487, with median rent of $1,257 and $1,306 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.4% vs 90.2%. 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.