ZIP 48422 vs ZIP 48401

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48422 (Croswell, MI) and ZIP 48401 (Applegate, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48422 has a population of 6,400 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 48401 has 1,439 at 17 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 48422 reports a median household income of $57,899 against $70,536 in ZIP 48401, with per-capita income of $32,000 vs $37,096. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.6% in 48422 and 13.9% in 48401. Poverty rate reads 13.9% vs 13.4%, and unemployment 7.8% vs 3.0% — 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 $171,300 in 48422 versus $162,700 in 48401, with median rent of $691 and $938 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 81.2%. 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.