ZIP 04039 vs ZIP 04260

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04039 (Gray, ME) and ZIP 04260 (New Gloucester, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04039 has a population of 7,422 at 71 people per square mile, while ZIP 04260 has 5,542 at 45 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 04039 reports a median household income of $95,125 against $108,797 in ZIP 04260, with per-capita income of $49,790 vs $43,314. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.4% in 04039 and 30.7% in 04260. Poverty rate reads 3.4% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 5.0% — 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 $357,500 in 04039 versus $357,100 in 04260, with median rent of $1,371 and $1,150 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.5% vs 82.9%. 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.