ZIP 04563 vs ZIP 04860

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04563 (Cushing, ME) and ZIP 04860 (Tenants Harbor, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04563 has a population of 1,534 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 04860 has 1,591 at 34 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 04563 reports a median household income of $83,500 against $86,833 in ZIP 04860, with per-capita income of $59,310 vs $50,883. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.4% in 04563 and 44.4% in 04860. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 11.5%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 0.0% — 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 $409,800 in 04563 versus $271,400 in 04860, with median rent of $1,553 and $1,603 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.7% vs 83.1%. 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.