ZIP 48846 vs ZIP 48865

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48846 (Ionia, MI) and ZIP 48865 (Orleans, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48846 has a population of 20,269 at 72 people per square mile, while ZIP 48865 has 1,903 at 33 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 48846 reports a median household income of $66,742 against $70,039 in ZIP 48865, with per-capita income of $27,379 vs $37,965. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.5% in 48846 and 12.7% in 48865. Poverty rate reads 13.1% vs 18.9%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 1.7% — 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 $172,700 in 48846 versus $141,900 in 48865, with median rent of $885 and $790 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.1% vs 73.9%. 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.