ZIP 48317 vs ZIP 48314

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48317 (Utica, MI) and ZIP 48314 (Sterling Heights, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48317 has a population of 26,610 at 848 people per square mile, while ZIP 48314 has 20,245 at 1,015 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 48317 reports a median household income of $72,917 against $85,889 in ZIP 48314, with per-capita income of $37,687 vs $47,712. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.4% in 48317 and 35.9% in 48314. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 1.9% — 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 $265,300 in 48317 versus $331,500 in 48314, with median rent of $1,314 and $1,476 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.5% vs 75.9%. 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.