ZIP 04051 vs ZIP 04231

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04051 (Lovell, ME) and ZIP 04231 (Stoneham, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04051 has a population of 1,153 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 04231 has 236 at 3 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 04051 reports a median household income of $80,625 against $63,750 in ZIP 04231, with per-capita income of $55,931 vs $35,821. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.1% in 04051 and 37.8% in 04231. Poverty rate reads 10.0% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 1.8% — 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 $295,000 in 04051 versus $226,200 in 04231, with median rent of $1,419 and $1,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% vs 89.8%. 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.