ZIP 06824 vs ZIP 06890

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06824 (Fairfield, CT) and ZIP 06890 (Southport, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06824 has a population of 33,900 at 650 people per square mile, while ZIP 06890 has 4,306 at 575 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 06824 reports a median household income of $193,300 against $218,841 in ZIP 06890, with per-capita income of $85,384 vs $143,002. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 75.2% in 06824 and 83.7% in 06890. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 2.9%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 3.5% — 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 $869,100 in 06824 versus $1,212,500 in 06890, with median rent of $2,264 and $3,119 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.4% vs 86.6%. 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.