ZIP 06385 vs ZIP 06320

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