ZIP 06415 vs ZIP 06231

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06415 (Colchester, CT) and ZIP 06231 (Amston, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06415 has a population of 16,857 at 120 people per square mile, while ZIP 06231 has 4,083 at 99 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 06415 reports a median household income of $123,256 against $168,313 in ZIP 06231, with per-capita income of $60,848 vs $71,798. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.8% in 06415 and 59.2% in 06231. Poverty rate reads 3.8% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 4.9% — 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 $366,300 in 06415 versus $407,500 in 06231, with median rent of $1,474 and $1,378 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.3% vs 91.0%. 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.