ZIP 48655 vs ZIP 48616

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48655 (Saint Charles, MI) and ZIP 48616 (Chesaning, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48655 has a population of 6,460 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 48616 has 7,513 at 36 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 48655 reports a median household income of $66,115 against $66,819 in ZIP 48616, with per-capita income of $35,440 vs $34,629. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.8% in 48655 and 13.4% in 48616. Poverty rate reads 9.3% vs 10.6%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 3.5% — 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 $175,700 in 48655 versus $163,100 in 48616, with median rent of $581 and $730 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.7% vs 84.7%. 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.