ZIP 04848 vs ZIP 04642

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04848 (Islesboro, ME) and ZIP 04642 (Harborside, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04848 has a population of 566 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 04642 has 123 at 8 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 04848 reports a median household income of $88,438 against $71,563 in ZIP 04642, with per-capita income of $61,249 vs $54,863. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.8% in 04848 and 50.3% in 04642. Poverty rate reads 15.1% vs 10.9%, and unemployment 14.3% vs 3.2% — 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 $288,800 in 04848 versus $384,600 in 04642, with median rent of $938 and $1,320 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.8% vs 76.4%. 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.