ZIP 04915 vs ZIP 04974

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04915 (Belfast, ME) and ZIP 04974 (Searsport, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04915 has a population of 8,806 at 47 people per square mile, while ZIP 04974 has 2,611 at 35 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 04915 reports a median household income of $66,362 against $64,303 in ZIP 04974, with per-capita income of $43,770 vs $38,903. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.7% in 04915 and 23.2% in 04974. Poverty rate reads 16.4% vs 14.6%, and unemployment 1.3% 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 $308,700 in 04915 versus $224,400 in 04974, with median rent of $972 and $1,105 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.9% vs 69.4%. 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.