ZIP 04605 vs ZIP 04640

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04605 (Ellsworth, ME) and ZIP 04640 (Hancock, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04605 has a population of 12,974 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 04640 has 2,261 at 32 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 04605 reports a median household income of $77,377 against $71,699 in ZIP 04640, with per-capita income of $39,435 vs $46,304. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.9% in 04605 and 36.2% in 04640. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 4.6% — 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 $256,900 in 04605 versus $269,100 in 04640, with median rent of $1,068 and $1,171 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.1% vs 80.6%. 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.