ZIP 48638 vs ZIP 48602

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48638 (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 48638 has a population of 12,922 at 755 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 48638 reports a median household income of $69,459 against $46,984 in ZIP 48602, with per-capita income of $42,122 vs $23,838. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.4% in 48638 and 16.5% in 48602. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 28.8%, and unemployment 3.8% 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 $172,600 in 48638 versus $73,600 in 48602, with median rent of $949 and $933 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.1% 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.