ZIP 06516 vs ZIP 06511

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06516 (West Haven, CT) and ZIP 06511 (New Haven, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06516 has a population of 55,564 at 1,996 people per square mile, while ZIP 06511 has 53,600 at 3,489 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 06516 reports a median household income of $74,382 against $59,969 in ZIP 06511, with per-capita income of $35,740 vs $40,544. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.5% in 06516 and 49.2% in 06511. Poverty rate reads 14.1% vs 22.9%, and unemployment 7.3% 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 $291,700 in 06516 versus $353,000 in 06511, with median rent of $1,442 and $1,598 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 50.6% vs 19.7%. 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.