ZIP 04001 vs ZIP 03852

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04001 (Acton, ME) and ZIP 03852 (Milton Mills, NH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04001 has a population of 2,429 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 03852 has 558 at 32 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 04001 reports a median household income of $78,750 against $154,583 in ZIP 03852, with per-capita income of $40,494 vs $110,405. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.2% in 04001 and 38.2% in 03852. Poverty rate reads 7.8% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $334,300 in 04001 versus $357,100 in 03852, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.1% vs 100.0%. 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.