ZIP 48661 vs ZIP 48654

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48661 (West Branch, MI) and ZIP 48654 (Rose City, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48661 has a population of 10,691 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 48654 has 2,521 at 10 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 48661 reports a median household income of $61,377 against $45,202 in ZIP 48654, with per-capita income of $34,290 vs $30,047. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.1% in 48661 and 18.5% in 48654. Poverty rate reads 10.8% vs 18.7%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 5.9% — 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 $177,000 in 48661 versus $140,800 in 48654, with median rent of $840 and $732 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.1% vs 84.2%. 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.