ZIP 04093 vs ZIP 04042

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04093 (Buxton, ME) and ZIP 04042 (Hollis Center, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04093 has a population of 8,034 at 77 people per square mile, while ZIP 04042 has 4,281 at 52 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 04093 reports a median household income of $100,144 against $95,950 in ZIP 04042, with per-capita income of $46,067 vs $41,243. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.3% in 04093 and 30.7% in 04042. Poverty rate reads 2.3% vs 5.7%, and unemployment 1.4% 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 $356,800 in 04093 versus $338,900 in 04042, with median rent of $1,613 and $1,372 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.3% vs 87.6%. 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.