ZIP 05495 vs ZIP 05403

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05495 (Williston, VT) and ZIP 05403 (South Burlington, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05495 has a population of 9,341 at 108 people per square mile, while ZIP 05403 has 17,593 at 414 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 05495 reports a median household income of $107,054 against $105,616 in ZIP 05403, with per-capita income of $60,073 vs $59,614. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.8% in 05495 and 67.3% in 05403. Poverty rate reads 4.4% vs 7.3%, and unemployment 1.8% 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 $470,300 in 05495 versus $442,400 in 05403, with median rent of $1,820 and $1,787 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.1% vs 61.4%. 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.