ZIP 48059 vs ZIP 48049

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48059 (Fort Gratiot, MI) and ZIP 48049 (North Street, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48059 has a population of 15,123 at 185 people per square mile, while ZIP 48049 has 5,582 at 60 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 48059 reports a median household income of $80,062 against $84,028 in ZIP 48049, with per-capita income of $39,425 vs $42,947. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.9% in 48059 and 21.5% in 48049. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 6.5%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 5.0% — 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 $221,700 in 48059 versus $235,700 in 48049, with median rent of $994 and $1,072 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.1% vs 89.8%. 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.