ZIP 48457 vs ZIP 48417

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48457 (Montrose, MI) and ZIP 48417 (Burt, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48457 has a population of 8,436 at 74 people per square mile, while ZIP 48417 has 2,983 at 47 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 48457 reports a median household income of $71,090 against $72,422 in ZIP 48417, with per-capita income of $33,279 vs $36,949. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.3% in 48457 and 8.9% in 48417. Poverty rate reads 16.7% vs 12.5%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 11.5% — 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 $175,900 in 48457 versus $166,400 in 48417, with median rent of $859 and $635 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.6% vs 90.8%. 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.