ZIP code 04473

ZIP 04473 is a mid-size town in Penobscot County, Maine, with 8,383 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #40 of 427 ranked by population — larger than 90% of them. The median age here is 28.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in ZIP 04473 earn a median of $58,893 a year, 25% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 25% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 04473 is valued at $217,800, 28.2% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,146 a month, 18.5% below the national figure, or roughly $13,752 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 23.4% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.7×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 49.1% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

A median age of 28.2 means a large student or early-career population; income medians in places like this understate household resources, since many residents are supported from outside the address.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 04473 is tabulated inside Penobscot County, Maine, one of 41 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 427 across Maine. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 04473 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 04473 reports a median household income of $58,893, close to the $59,750 county median, and 10% below the $65,739 typical ME ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $217,800, 36% above the county figure and 6% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,146 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Maine charges 5.5% statewide, and no local sales tax is layered on top, so the state rate is the full amount collected in 04473.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 04473 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.