ZIP 48624 vs ZIP 48612

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48624 (Gladwin, MI) and ZIP 48612 (Beaverton, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48624 has a population of 15,810 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 48612 has 9,259 at 30 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 48624 reports a median household income of $55,130 against $55,761 in ZIP 48612, with per-capita income of $32,478 vs $33,121. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.9% in 48624 and 19.0% in 48612. Poverty rate reads 17.0% vs 11.9%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 6.0% — 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 $163,500 in 48624 versus $164,000 in 48612, with median rent of $673 and $741 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.0% vs 83.7%. 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.