ZIP 05487 vs ZIP 05443

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05487 (Starksboro, VT) and ZIP 05443 (Bristol, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05487 has a population of 1,498 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 05443 has 6,656 at 23 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 05487 reports a median household income of $76,750 against $88,594 in ZIP 05443, with per-capita income of $40,367 vs $50,800. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.3% in 05487 and 44.1% in 05443. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 2.6% — 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 $265,000 in 05487 versus $356,600 in 05443, with median rent of $1,306 and $1,257 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.2% vs 79.4%. 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.