ZIP 48706 vs ZIP 48708

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48706 (Bay City, MI) and ZIP 48708 (Bay City, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48706 has a population of 40,596 at 234 people per square mile, while ZIP 48708 has 27,262 at 378 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 48706 reports a median household income of $62,747 against $50,518 in ZIP 48708, with per-capita income of $36,643 vs $30,952. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.7% in 48706 and 17.8% in 48708. Poverty rate reads 12.3% vs 18.3%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 6.8% — 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 $155,800 in 48706 versus $107,700 in 48708, with median rent of $922 and $751 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.2% vs 70.1%. 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.