ZIP 04030 vs ZIP 04087

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04030 (East Waterboro, ME) and ZIP 04087 (Waterboro, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04030 has a population of 2,208 at 51 people per square mile, while ZIP 04087 has 2,116 at 43 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 04030 reports a median household income of $72,548 against $98,105 in ZIP 04087, with per-capita income of $38,633 vs $38,443. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.1% in 04030 and 23.3% in 04087. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 12.2%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 6.2% — 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 $348,400 in 04030 versus $247,300 in 04087, with median rent of $1,069 and $1,186 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.9% vs 86.3%. 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.