ZIP 48601 vs ZIP 48602

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48601 (Saginaw, MI) and ZIP 48602 (Saginaw, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48601 has a population of 38,406 at 141 people per square mile, while ZIP 48602 has 30,119 at 1,485 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 48601 reports a median household income of $38,900 against $46,984 in ZIP 48602, with per-capita income of $21,720 vs $23,838. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.9% in 48601 and 16.5% in 48602. Poverty rate reads 31.6% vs 28.8%, and unemployment 8.6% vs 9.6% — 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 $62,800 in 48601 versus $73,600 in 48602, with median rent of $856 and $933 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.2% vs 64.2%. 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.