ZIP 06716 vs ZIP 06705

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06716 (Wolcott, CT) and ZIP 06705 (Waterbury, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06716 has a population of 16,680 at 315 people per square mile, while ZIP 06705 has 27,122 at 1,886 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 06716 reports a median household income of $111,225 against $53,954 in ZIP 06705, with per-capita income of $51,549 vs $33,313. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.9% in 06716 and 18.8% in 06705. Poverty rate reads 1.8% vs 19.2%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 7.2% — 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 $325,300 in 06716 versus $202,400 in 06705, with median rent of $1,464 and $1,261 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.3% vs 51.2%. 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.