ZIP 04987 vs ZIP 04969

This side-by-side compares ZIP 04987 (Troy, ME) and ZIP 04969 (Plymouth, ME) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 04987 has a population of 1,030 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 04969 has 1,362 at 18 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 04987 reports a median household income of $44,583 against $61,964 in ZIP 04969, with per-capita income of $32,535 vs $36,425. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.7% in 04987 and 16.8% in 04969. Poverty rate reads 17.8% vs 6.5%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 2.7% — 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 $213,000 in 04987 versus $207,100 in 04969, with median rent of $1,255 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.4% vs 94.1%. 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.