ZIP 04551 vs ZIP 04543

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04551 (Bremen, ME) and ZIP 04543 (Damariscotta, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04551 has a population of 806 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 04543 has 2,218 at 69 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 04551 reports a median household income of $100,000 against $59,423 in ZIP 04543, with per-capita income of $56,375 vs $42,644. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.2% in 04551 and 41.9% in 04543. Poverty rate reads 9.4% vs 11.9%, and unemployment 2.7% vs 8.3% — 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 $425,300 in 04551 versus $363,500 in 04543, with median rent of — and $1,027 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.6% vs 70.0%. 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.