ZIP 48145 vs ZIP 48157

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48145 (La Salle, MI) and ZIP 48157 (Luna Pier, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48145 has a population of 3,503 at 81 people per square mile, while ZIP 48157 has 1,436 at 577 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 48145 reports a median household income of $83,204 against $61,641 in ZIP 48157, with per-capita income of $42,088 vs $40,125. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.0% in 48145 and 21.8% in 48157. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 26.0%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 3.8% — 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 $231,100 in 48145 versus $188,800 in 48157, with median rent of $1,032 and $395 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.7% vs 83.2%. 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.