ZIP 04912 vs ZIP 04979

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04912 (Athens, ME) and ZIP 04979 (Solon, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04912 has a population of 1,048 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 04979 has 1,064 at 9 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 04912 reports a median household income of $51,250 against $69,205 in ZIP 04979, with per-capita income of $28,396 vs $34,307. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.6% in 04912 and 25.0% in 04979. Poverty rate reads 25.1% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 9.4% — 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 $158,300 in 04912 versus $183,600 in 04979, with median rent of $538 and $915 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.3% vs 88.6%. 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.