ZIP 05842 vs ZIP 05836

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05842 (Greensboro Bend, VT) and ZIP 05836 (East Hardwick, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05842 has a population of 522 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 05836 has 1,068 at 14 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 05842 reports a median household income of $85,536 against $99,929 in ZIP 05836, with per-capita income of $39,745 vs $51,407. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.6% in 05842 and 52.6% in 05836. Poverty rate reads 10.3% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 2.3% — 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 $219,800 in 05842 versus $241,800 in 05836, with median rent of $1,125 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 94.2%. 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.