ZIP 48801 vs ZIP 48832

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48801 (Alma, MI) and ZIP 48832 (Elwell, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48801 has a population of 12,923 at 70 people per square mile, while ZIP 48832 has 1,393 at 21 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 48801 reports a median household income of $58,750 against $73,393 in ZIP 48832, with per-capita income of $30,233 vs $31,913. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.5% in 48801 and 19.0% in 48832. Poverty rate reads 17.9% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 5.6% vs 1.5% — 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 $129,700 in 48801 versus $163,700 in 48832, with median rent of $838 and $879 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.0% vs 92.4%. 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.