ZIP code 04609

ZIP 04609 is a mid-size town in Hancock County, Maine, with 5,198 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #68 of 427 ranked by population — larger than 84% of them. The median age here is 49.4 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. 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 04609 earn a median of $74,408 a year, 5.3% below the national figure of $78,538. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 14.4% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 04609 is valued at $451,800, 48.9% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,190 a month, 15.4% below the national figure, or roughly $14,280 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 19.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 73.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Home values sit at 6.1× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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 04609 is tabulated inside Hancock County, Maine, one of 40 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 04609 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 04609 reports a median household income of $74,408, 7% above the $69,834 county median, and 13% above the $65,739 typical ME ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $451,800, 57% above the county figure and 96% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,190 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 04609.

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 04609 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.