ZIP 48042 vs ZIP 48044

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48042 (Macomb, MI) and ZIP 48044 (Macomb, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48042 has a population of 27,291 at 464 people per square mile, while ZIP 48044 has 52,289 at 1,495 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 48042 reports a median household income of $126,667 against $117,856 in ZIP 48044, with per-capita income of $49,719 vs $45,890. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.4% in 48042 and 37.1% in 48044. Poverty rate reads 3.2% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 5.2% — 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 $410,000 in 48042 versus $370,300 in 48044, with median rent of $1,672 and $1,343 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.6% vs 88.9%. 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.