ZIP 48739 vs ZIP 48743

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48739 (Hale, MI) and ZIP 48743 (Long Lake, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48739 has a population of 4,043 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 48743 has 63 at 12 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 48739 reports a median household income of $52,802 against — in ZIP 48743, with per-capita income of $35,339 vs $26,917. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.3% in 48739 and 0.0% in 48743. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 30.0%, and unemployment 3.5% 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 $179,400 in 48739 versus — in 48743, with median rent of $882 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.3% vs 100.0%. 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.