ZIP 06042 vs ZIP 06040

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06042 (Manchester, CT) and ZIP 06040 (Manchester, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06042 has a population of 22,942 at 849 people per square mile, while ZIP 06040 has 35,306 at 803 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 06042 reports a median household income of $91,892 against $83,422 in ZIP 06040, with per-capita income of $48,383 vs $42,880. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.4% in 06042 and 37.7% in 06040. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 10.9%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 5.7% — 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 $237,400 in 06042 versus $259,400 in 06040, with median rent of $1,736 and $1,384 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.6% vs 54.2%. 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.