ZIP 06096 vs ZIP 06078

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06096 (Windsor Locks, CT) and ZIP 06078 (Suffield, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06096 has a population of 12,498 at 503 people per square mile, while ZIP 06078 has 12,413 at 188 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 06096 reports a median household income of $81,205 against $116,054 in ZIP 06078, with per-capita income of $43,189 vs $60,689. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.6% in 06096 and 47.8% in 06078. Poverty rate reads 10.9% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 6.6% — 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 $258,800 in 06096 versus $412,400 in 06078, with median rent of $1,394 and $1,469 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.1% vs 84.2%. 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.