ZIP 04966 vs ZIP 04285

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04966 (Phillips, ME) and ZIP 04285 (Weld, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04966 has a population of 1,682 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 04285 has 433 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 04966 reports a median household income of $47,969 against $62,083 in ZIP 04285, with per-capita income of $28,911 vs $32,476. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.2% in 04966 and 42.1% in 04285. Poverty rate reads 15.1% vs 6.5%, and unemployment 6.9% 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 $176,500 in 04966 versus $268,600 in 04285, with median rent of $475 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.7% vs 93.7%. 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.