ZIP 48840 vs ZIP 48823

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48840 (Haslett, MI) and ZIP 48823 (East Lansing, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48840 has a population of 12,501 at 249 people per square mile, while ZIP 48823 has 51,302 at 884 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 48840 reports a median household income of $73,408 against $52,018 in ZIP 48823, with per-capita income of $49,157 vs $39,660. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.7% in 48840 and 63.1% in 48823. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 32.2%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 5.0% — 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 $280,900 in 48840 versus $282,600 in 48823, with median rent of $1,071 and $1,176 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.2% vs 42.2%. 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.