ZIP 04109 vs ZIP 04108

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04109 (Portland, ME) and ZIP 04108 (Peaks Island, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04109 has a population of 93 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 04108 has 862 at 280 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 04109 reports a median household income of — against $94,318 in ZIP 04108, with per-capita income of $53,570 vs $59,145. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 86.8% in 04109 and 71.3% in 04108. Poverty rate reads 16.0% vs 7.6%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 2.0% — 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 $755,400 in 04109 versus $637,500 in 04108, with median rent of — and $1,500 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 88.7%. 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.