ZIP 04574 vs ZIP 04862

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04574 (Washington, ME) and ZIP 04862 (Union, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04574 has a population of 1,510 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 04862 has 3,592 at 21 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 04574 reports a median household income of $59,861 against $73,536 in ZIP 04862, with per-capita income of $38,398 vs $38,617. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.3% in 04574 and 34.3% in 04862. Poverty rate reads 15.3% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 2.7% — 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 $195,200 in 04574 versus $252,300 in 04862, with median rent of $1,036 and $1,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.5% vs 84.6%. 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.