ZIP 05494 vs ZIP 05454

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