ZIP 04938 vs ZIP 04239

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04938 (Farmington, ME) and ZIP 04239 (Jay, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04938 has a population of 9,869 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 04239 has 4,851 at 39 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 04938 reports a median household income of $55,704 against $70,238 in ZIP 04239, with per-capita income of $35,247 vs $32,921. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.4% in 04938 and 29.7% in 04239. Poverty rate reads 14.0% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 2.8% — 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 $172,500 in 04938 versus $168,600 in 04239, with median rent of $914 and $759 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.0% vs 82.7%. 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.