ZIP 48821 vs ZIP 48917

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48821 (Dimondale, MI) and ZIP 48917 (Lansing, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48821 has a population of 5,836 at 106 people per square mile, while ZIP 48917 has 32,062 at 509 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 48821 reports a median household income of $107,440 against $70,990 in ZIP 48917, with per-capita income of $47,345 vs $45,066. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.2% in 48821 and 40.4% in 48917. Poverty rate reads 2.9% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 5.3% — 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 $244,000 in 48821 versus $222,900 in 48917, with median rent of $1,065 and $1,116 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.3% vs 60.0%. 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.