ZIP 05458 vs ZIP 05486

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05458 (Grand Isle, VT) and ZIP 05486 (South Hero, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05458 has a population of 2,044 at 48 people per square mile, while ZIP 05486 has 1,654 at 43 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 05458 reports a median household income of $101,728 against $126,513 in ZIP 05486, with per-capita income of $55,269 vs $77,987. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.1% in 05458 and 61.1% in 05486. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 0.2% vs 6.1% — 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 $403,200 in 05458 versus $544,700 in 05486, with median rent of $1,363 and $1,439 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.7% vs 84.5%. 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.