ZIP 04539 vs ZIP 04573

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04539 (Bristol, ME) and ZIP 04573 (Walpole, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04539 has a population of 1,168 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 04573 has 501 at 24 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 04539 reports a median household income of $96,111 against $86,250 in ZIP 04573, with per-capita income of $52,764 vs $41,447. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 41.8% in 04539 and 54.2% in 04573. Poverty rate reads 8.7% vs 2.4%, and unemployment 13.1% vs 5.8% — 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 $346,900 in 04539 versus $420,000 in 04573, with median rent of $1,093 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.4% vs 100.0%. 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.