ZIP 04260 vs ZIP 04039

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04260 (New Gloucester, ME) and ZIP 04039 (Gray, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04260 has a population of 5,542 at 45 people per square mile, while ZIP 04039 has 7,422 at 71 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 04260 reports a median household income of $108,797 against $95,125 in ZIP 04039, with per-capita income of $43,314 vs $49,790. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.7% in 04260 and 44.4% in 04039. Poverty rate reads 4.3% vs 3.4%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 3.3% — 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 $357,100 in 04260 versus $357,500 in 04039, with median rent of $1,150 and $1,371 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 81.5%. 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.