ZIP 04294 vs ZIP 04984

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04294 (Wilton, ME) and ZIP 04984 (Temple, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04294 has a population of 3,995 at 27 people per square mile, while ZIP 04984 has 523 at 9 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 04294 reports a median household income of $63,104 against $56,087 in ZIP 04984, with per-capita income of $33,701 vs $23,954. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.0% in 04294 and 13.2% in 04984. Poverty rate reads 14.5% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 3.6% — 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 $198,800 in 04294 versus $210,200 in 04984, with median rent of $446 and $1,458 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.2% vs 92.7%. 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.