ZIP 05641 vs ZIP 05602

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05641 (Barre, VT) and ZIP 05602 (Montpelier, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05641 has a population of 17,169 at 123 people per square mile, while ZIP 05602 has 11,916 at 57 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 05641 reports a median household income of $76,855 against $81,320 in ZIP 05602, with per-capita income of $45,844 vs $48,903. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.5% in 05641 and 59.7% in 05602. Poverty rate reads 10.1% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 2.7% — 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 $253,200 in 05641 versus $360,000 in 05602, with median rent of $1,127 and $1,309 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.8% vs 66.2%. 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.