ZIP 48647 vs ZIP 48621

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48647 (Mio, MI) and ZIP 48621 (Fairview, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48647 has a population of 4,420 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 48621 has 1,359 at 9 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 48647 reports a median household income of $47,281 against $51,304 in ZIP 48621, with per-capita income of $23,487 vs $26,983. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.9% in 48647 and 19.1% in 48621. Poverty rate reads 20.3% vs 16.5%, and unemployment 10.8% vs 0.0% - 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 $111,800 in 48647 versus $145,300 in 48621, with median rent of $656 and $543 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.7% vs 80.3%. 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.