ZIP 04530 vs ZIP 04086

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04530 (Bath, ME) and ZIP 04086 (Topsham, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04530 has a population of 10,818 at 145 people per square mile, while ZIP 04086 has 8,787 at 105 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 04530 reports a median household income of $79,649 against $91,028 in ZIP 04086, with per-capita income of $48,229 vs $51,713. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.0% in 04530 and 50.0% in 04086. Poverty rate reads 11.0% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 4.3% — 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 $336,800 in 04530 versus $360,800 in 04086, with median rent of $1,053 and $1,355 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.5% vs 78.9%. 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.