ZIP code 05081

ZIP 05081 is a very small community in Orange County, Vermont, with 775 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #163 of 265 ranked by population — larger than 38% of them. The median age here is 52.6 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 05081 earn a median of $56,971 a year, 27.5% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 26.5% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 05081 is valued at $266,000, 12.3% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $770 a month, 45.2% below the national figure, or roughly $9,240 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 16.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 4.7×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 66.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

A median age of 52.6 puts ZIP 05081 well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages. With 775 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare ZIP 05081 against its county rather than against national figures.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 05081 is tabulated inside Orange County, Vermont, one of 26 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 265 across Vermont. Fewer than 2,500 people are counted here, so the ZIP behaves like a village delivery route rather than a neighbourhood. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 05081 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 05081 reports a median household income of $56,971, 25% below the $76,222 county median, and 25% below the $76,250 typical VT ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $266,000, 12% above the county figure and 3% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $770 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Vermont charges 6% statewide, and local governments overlapping 05081 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 05081 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.