ZIP 48856 vs ZIP 48871

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48856 (Middleton, MI) and ZIP 48871 (Perrinton, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48856 has a population of 966 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 48871 has 1,952 at 25 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 48856 reports a median household income of $91,413 against $84,803 in ZIP 48871, with per-capita income of $31,558 vs $43,174. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.1% in 48856 and 26.2% in 48871. Poverty rate reads 5.7% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 3.7% — 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 $183,300 in 48856 versus $230,600 in 48871, with median rent of $717 and $1,048 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.7% vs 82.6%. 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.