ZIP 05822 vs ZIP 05860

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05822 (Barton, VT) and ZIP 05860 (Orleans, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05822 has a population of 1,873 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 05860 has 2,557 at 13 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 05822 reports a median household income of $76,100 against $64,850 in ZIP 05860, with per-capita income of $32,572 vs $31,889. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.2% in 05822 and 23.8% in 05860. Poverty rate reads 11.0% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 8.5% — 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 $222,600 in 05822 versus $204,500 in 05860, with median rent of $778 and $787 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 75.5%. 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.