ZIP 04862 vs ZIP 04847

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04862 (Union, ME) and ZIP 04847 (Hope, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04862 has a population of 3,592 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 04847 has 1,536 at 27 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 04862 reports a median household income of $73,536 against $86,766 in ZIP 04847, with per-capita income of $38,617 vs $48,167. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.3% in 04862 and 47.4% in 04847. Poverty rate reads 10.0% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 2.7% vs 1.9% — 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 $252,300 in 04862 versus $373,400 in 04847, with median rent of $1,125 and $1,219 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.6% vs 92.9%. 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.