ZIP 06708 vs ZIP 06702

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06708 (Waterbury, CT) and ZIP 06702 (Waterbury, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06708 has a population of 29,418 at 1,190 people per square mile, while ZIP 06702 has 3,654 at 2,207 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 06708 reports a median household income of $67,364 against $14,474 in ZIP 06702, with per-capita income of $34,563 vs $18,036. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.2% in 06708 and 9.6% in 06702. Poverty rate reads 16.6% vs 45.6%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 9.7% — 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 $218,500 in 06708 versus $286,100 in 06702, with median rent of $1,313 and $749 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.3% vs 8.0%. 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.