ZIP 04257 vs ZIP 04224

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04257 (Mexico, ME) and ZIP 04224 (Dixfield, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04257 has a population of 2,681 at 44 people per square mile, while ZIP 04224 has 3,040 at 16 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 04257 reports a median household income of $55,727 against $71,513 in ZIP 04224, with per-capita income of $28,310 vs $32,953. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.0% in 04257 and 22.1% in 04224. Poverty rate reads 19.7% vs 11.3%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 3.2% — 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 $110,800 in 04257 versus $156,800 in 04224, with median rent of $1,027 and $671 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.0% vs 86.0%. 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.