ZIP 05468 vs ZIP 05446

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05468 (Milton, VT) and ZIP 05446 (Colchester, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05468 has a population of 12,942 at 78 people per square mile, while ZIP 05446 has 15,373 at 162 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 05468 reports a median household income of $114,709 against $97,475 in ZIP 05446, with per-capita income of $53,402 vs $49,847. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.4% in 05468 and 40.9% in 05446. Poverty rate reads 3.6% vs 7.0%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 3.9% — 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 $372,200 in 05468 versus $393,200 in 05446, with median rent of $1,547 and $1,474 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.7% vs 74.2%. 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.