ZIP 48470 vs ZIP 48456

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48470 (Ruth, MI) and ZIP 48456 (Minden City, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48470 has a population of 784 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 48456 has 858 at 7 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 48470 reports a median household income of $58,594 against $62,321 in ZIP 48456, with per-capita income of $33,107 vs $34,057. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.5% in 48470 and 10.2% in 48456. Poverty rate reads 15.8% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 5.5% - 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 $188,500 in 48470 versus $195,000 in 48456, with median rent of $930 and $866 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.1% vs 84.0%. 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.