ZIP 48841 vs ZIP 48649

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48841 (Henderson, MI) and ZIP 48649 (Oakley, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48841 has a population of 826 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 48649 has 1,576 at 24 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 48841 reports a median household income of $60,156 against $72,609 in ZIP 48649, with per-capita income of $37,962 vs $38,443. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.0% in 48841 and 15.5% in 48649. Poverty rate reads 9.3% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 4.3% 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 $164,000 in 48841 versus $164,200 in 48649, with median rent of $915 and $799 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.3% vs 88.9%. 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.