ZIP 06320 vs ZIP 06385

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06320 (New London, CT) and ZIP 06385 (Waterford, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06320 has a population of 27,617 at 1,926 people per square mile, while ZIP 06385 has 15,893 at 246 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 06320 reports a median household income of $59,170 against $100,484 in ZIP 06385, with per-capita income of $33,704 vs $54,235. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.7% in 06320 and 42.3% in 06385. Poverty rate reads 21.5% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 5.6% — 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 $253,300 in 06320 versus $365,400 in 06385, with median rent of $1,341 and $1,666 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 36.1% vs 78.6%. 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.