ZIP 06896 vs ZIP 06801

This side-by-side compares ZIP 06896 (Redding, CT) and ZIP 06801 (Bethel, CT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 06896 has a population of 9,110 at 112 people per square mile, while ZIP 06801 has 18,581 at 423 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 06896 reports a median household income of $186,060 against $116,541 in ZIP 06801, with per-capita income of $96,417 vs $58,019. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.1% in 06896 and 45.7% in 06801. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 5.1%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 3.8% — 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 $706,300 in 06896 versus $434,600 in 06801, with median rent of $2,101 and $1,640 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.6% vs 75.2%. 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.