ZIP 04964 vs ZIP 04970

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04964 (Oquossoc, ME) and ZIP 04970 (Rangeley, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04964 has a population of 221 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 04970 has 1,620 at 3 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 04964 reports a median household income of — against $60,882 in ZIP 04970, with per-capita income of $41,179 vs $47,082. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.2% in 04964 and 33.6% in 04970. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 4.4%, and unemployment 100.0% vs 11.9% — 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 $325,000 in 04964 versus $422,500 in 04970, with median rent of — and $673 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.6% vs 75.9%. 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.