ZIP 05845 vs ZIP 05820

This side-by-side compares ZIP 05845 (Irasburg, VT) and ZIP 05820 (Albany, VT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 05845 has a population of 1,096 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 05820 has 662 at 11 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 05845 reports a median household income of $82,262 against $68,229 in ZIP 05820, with per-capita income of $35,437 vs $33,843. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.2% in 05845 and 29.9% in 05820. Poverty rate reads 4.3% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 0.5% vs 0.7% — 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 $233,200 in 05845 versus $218,700 in 05820, with median rent of $1,058 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.5% vs 98.3%. 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.