ZIP 06477 vs ZIP 06516

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06477 (Orange, CT) and ZIP 06516 (West Haven, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06477 has a population of 13,956 at 314 people per square mile, while ZIP 06516 has 55,564 at 1,996 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 06477 reports a median household income of $142,325 against $74,382 in ZIP 06516, with per-capita income of $68,078 vs $35,740. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 59.4% in 06477 and 30.5% in 06516. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 14.1%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 7.3% — 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 $491,500 in 06477 versus $291,700 in 06516, with median rent of $2,172 and $1,442 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.2% vs 50.6%. 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.