ZIP 04468 vs ZIP 04473

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04468 (Old Town, ME) and ZIP 04473 (Orono, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04468 has a population of 9,521 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 04473 has 7,660 at 165 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 04468 reports a median household income of $56,358 against $61,528 in ZIP 04473, with per-capita income of $33,893 vs $37,978. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.3% in 04468 and 66.9% in 04473. Poverty rate reads 19.3% vs 24.9%, and unemployment 2.2% vs 4.2% — 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 $203,700 in 04468 versus $272,600 in 04473, with median rent of $967 and $1,255 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.7% vs 46.6%. 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.