ZIP 04917 vs ZIP 04918

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04917 (Belgrade, ME) and ZIP 04918 (Belgrade Lakes, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04917 has a population of 2,849 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 04918 has 349 at 38 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 04917 reports a median household income of $88,338 against — in ZIP 04918, with per-capita income of $44,318 vs —. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.1% in 04917 and — in 04918. Poverty rate reads 3.1% vs —, and unemployment 7.7% vs — — 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 $312,200 in 04917 versus — in 04918, with median rent of $857 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.8% vs —. 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.