ZIP 04085 vs ZIP 04084

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04085 (Steep Falls, ME) and ZIP 04084 (Standish, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04085 has a population of 1,786 at 57 people per square mile, while ZIP 04084 has 8,088 at 67 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 04085 reports a median household income of $92,246 against $109,345 in ZIP 04084, with per-capita income of $33,626 vs $45,591. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.2% in 04085 and 40.7% in 04084. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 8.3%, and unemployment 0.6% vs 2.9% — 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 $288,600 in 04085 versus $351,200 in 04084, with median rent of $1,551 and $961 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.2% vs 93.0%. 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.