ZIP 04630 vs ZIP 04654

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04630 (East Machias, ME) and ZIP 04654 (Machias, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04630 has a population of 1,398 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 04654 has 3,424 at 13 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 04630 reports a median household income of $57,857 against $48,838 in ZIP 04654, with per-capita income of $32,577 vs $28,537. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.7% in 04630 and 23.0% in 04654. Poverty rate reads 15.8% vs 20.1%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 12.3% — 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 $211,300 in 04630 versus $171,600 in 04654, with median rent of $907 and $707 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.8% vs 67.0%. 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.