ZIP 04401 vs ZIP 04240

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04401 (Bangor, ME) and ZIP 04240 (Lewiston, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04401 has a population of 44,899 at 173 people per square mile, while ZIP 04240 has 36,592 at 414 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 04401 reports a median household income of $66,932 against $55,393 in ZIP 04240, with per-capita income of $40,469 vs $30,979. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.7% in 04401 and 22.6% in 04240. Poverty rate reads 14.7% vs 20.0%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 4.8% — 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 $239,900 in 04401 versus $235,100 in 04240, with median rent of $1,076 and $986 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 54.9% vs 51.2%. 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.