ZIP 05452 vs ZIP 05495

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05452 (Essex Junction, VT) and ZIP 05495 (Williston, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05452 has a population of 19,710 at 183 people per square mile, while ZIP 05495 has 9,341 at 108 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 05452 reports a median household income of $101,349 against $107,054 in ZIP 05495, with per-capita income of $52,151 vs $60,073. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 55.3% in 05452 and 54.8% in 05495. Poverty rate reads 7.1% vs 4.4%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 1.8% — 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 $432,400 in 05452 versus $470,300 in 05495, with median rent of $1,553 and $1,820 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.7% vs 76.1%. 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.