ZIP 48464 vs ZIP 48435

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48464 (Otter Lake, MI) and ZIP 48435 (Fostoria, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48464 has a population of 2,231 at 46 people per square mile, while ZIP 48435 has 2,083 at 32 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 48464 reports a median household income of $81,417 against $86,905 in ZIP 48435, with per-capita income of $42,254 vs $32,879. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.6% in 48464 and 9.6% in 48435. Poverty rate reads 14.9% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 10.3% vs 7.4% — 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 $206,000 in 48464 versus $143,200 in 48435, with median rent of $1,333 and $1,007 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.1% vs 94.6%. 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.