ZIP 04952 vs ZIP 04973

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04952 (Morrill, ME) and ZIP 04973 (Searsmont, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04952 has a population of 1,829 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 04973 has 1,389 at 14 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 04952 reports a median household income of $67,763 against $87,000 in ZIP 04973, with per-capita income of $35,833 vs $40,479. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.9% in 04952 and 31.6% in 04973. Poverty rate reads 5.3% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 3.4% — 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 $215,700 in 04952 versus $284,000 in 04973, with median rent of $1,037 and $940 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.1% vs 90.6%. 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.