ZIP 05819 vs ZIP 05851

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05819 (Saint Johnsbury, VT) and ZIP 05851 (Lyndonville, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05819 has a population of 9,444 at 40 people per square mile, while ZIP 05851 has 6,528 at 32 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 05819 reports a median household income of $62,411 against $68,488 in ZIP 05851, with per-capita income of $38,334 vs $37,113. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.3% in 05819 and 31.3% in 05851. Poverty rate reads 14.3% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 1.2% — 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 $197,500 in 05819 versus $227,200 in 05851, with median rent of $919 and $1,097 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.6% vs 86.8%. 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.