ZIP 04270 vs ZIP 04256

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04270 (Oxford, ME) and ZIP 04256 (Mechanic Falls, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04270 has a population of 5,880 at 29 people per square mile, while ZIP 04256 has 3,064 at 105 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 04270 reports a median household income of $74,241 against $69,914 in ZIP 04256, with per-capita income of $34,536 vs $28,222. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.5% in 04270 and 15.6% in 04256. Poverty rate reads 11.8% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 8.2% vs 3.0% — 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 $216,400 in 04270 versus $270,900 in 04256, with median rent of $1,031 and $1,076 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.9% vs 79.8%. 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.