ZIP 48174 vs ZIP 48242

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48174 (Romulus, MI) and ZIP 48242 (Detroit, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48174 has a population of 31,515 at 297 people per square mile, while ZIP 48242 has 0. 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 48174 reports a median household income of $67,056 against — in ZIP 48242, with per-capita income of $31,379 vs —. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.7% in 48174 and — in 48242. Poverty rate reads 13.3% vs —, and unemployment 5.8% vs — — 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 $162,100 in 48174 versus — in 48242, with median rent of $1,058 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.2% vs —. 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.