ZIP 08515 vs ZIP 08620

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08515 (Chesterfield, NJ) and ZIP 08620 (Trenton, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08515 has a population of 4,637 at 85 people per square mile, while ZIP 08620 has 14,693 at 633 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 08515 reports a median household income of $208,836 against $105,368 in ZIP 08620, with per-capita income of $68,581 vs $46,700. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.3% in 08515 and 31.3% in 08620. Poverty rate reads 2.8% vs 9.3%, and unemployment 3.3% 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 $560,000 in 08515 versus $373,800 in 08620, with median rent of $2,500 and $1,640 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.2% vs 80.6%. 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.