ZIP 48079 vs ZIP 48054

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48079 (Saint Clair, MI) and ZIP 48054 (East China, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48079 has a population of 12,304 at 114 people per square mile, while ZIP 48054 has 7,339 at 70 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 48079 reports a median household income of $79,891 against $83,241 in ZIP 48054, with per-capita income of $42,948 vs $44,758. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.5% in 48079 and 21.9% in 48054. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 6.5%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 9.9% — 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 $293,000 in 48079 versus $301,400 in 48054, with median rent of $1,139 and $909 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.1% vs 86.3%. 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.