ZIP 06021 vs ZIP 06098

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06021 (Colebrook, CT) and ZIP 06098 (Winsted, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06021 has a population of 314 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 06098 has 12,426 at 85 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 06021 reports a median household income of $111,250 against $66,269 in ZIP 06098, with per-capita income of $59,620 vs $39,256. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.6% in 06021 and 28.1% in 06098. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 12.9%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 4.4% — 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 $342,800 in 06021 versus $247,900 in 06098, with median rent of $1,333 and $1,174 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.6% vs 65.7%. 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.