ZIP 05454 vs ZIP 05494

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05454 (Fairfax, VT) and ZIP 05494 (Westford, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05454 has a population of 4,447 at 36 people per square mile, while ZIP 05494 has 1,767 at 20 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 05454 reports a median household income of $128,212 against $117,143 in ZIP 05494, with per-capita income of $44,572 vs $54,018. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.7% in 05454 and 50.1% in 05494. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 2.7%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 4.3% — 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 $372,400 in 05454 versus $412,900 in 05494, with median rent of $1,104 and $2,561 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.7% vs 85.8%. 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.