ZIP 04736 vs ZIP 04762

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04736 (Caribou, ME) and ZIP 04762 (New Sweden, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04736 has a population of 9,876 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 04762 has 602 at 6 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 04736 reports a median household income of $54,368 against $58,333 in ZIP 04762, with per-capita income of $34,209 vs $33,197. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.4% in 04736 and 29.4% in 04762. Poverty rate reads 15.1% vs 16.0%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 4.9% - 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 $139,000 in 04736 versus $164,700 in 04762, with median rent of $757 and $658 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.6% vs 88.2%. 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.