ZIP 04485 vs ZIP 04406

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04485 (Shirley Mills, ME) and ZIP 04406 (Abbot, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04485 has a population of 233 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 04406 has 819 at 4 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 04485 reports a median household income of $61,875 against $53,438 in ZIP 04406, with per-capita income of $39,548 vs $42,682. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.6% in 04485 and 12.5% in 04406. Poverty rate reads 17.0% vs 16.0%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 2.5% — 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 $219,600 in 04485 versus $170,800 in 04406, with median rent of — and $1,090 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 99.0% vs 73.3%. 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.