ZIP 05446 vs ZIP 05404

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05446 (Colchester, VT) and ZIP 05404 (Winooski, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05446 has a population of 15,373 at 162 people per square mile, while ZIP 05404 has 7,240 at 1,955 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 05446 reports a median household income of $97,475 against $79,522 in ZIP 05404, with per-capita income of $49,847 vs $44,986. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.9% in 05446 and 59.1% in 05404. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 13.8%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 1.2% — 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 $393,200 in 05446 versus $381,500 in 05404, with median rent of $1,474 and $1,643 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.2% vs 35.2%. 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.