ZIP 48054 vs ZIP 48039

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48054 (East China, MI) and ZIP 48039 (Marine City, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48054 has a population of 7,339 at 70 people per square mile, while ZIP 48039 has 7,807 at 131 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 48054 reports a median household income of $83,241 against $82,755 in ZIP 48039, with per-capita income of $44,758 vs $41,912. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.9% in 48054 and 20.8% in 48039. Poverty rate reads 6.5% vs 6.5%, and unemployment 9.9% vs 5.6% — 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 $301,400 in 48054 versus $181,300 in 48039, with median rent of $909 and $947 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.3% vs 87.0%. 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.