ZIP 04284 vs ZIP 04265

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04284 (Wayne, ME) and ZIP 04265 (North Monmouth, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04284 has a population of 1,138 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 04265 has 918 at 50 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 04284 reports a median household income of $93,194 against $43,506 in ZIP 04265, with per-capita income of $52,374 vs $28,506. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.8% in 04284 and 27.5% in 04265. Poverty rate reads 7.9% vs 17.4%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $362,800 in 04284 versus $169,900 in 04265, with median rent of $983 and $1,408 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.9% vs 88.6%. 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.