ZIP 48860 vs ZIP 48845

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48860 (Muir, MI) and ZIP 48845 (Hubbardston, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48860 has a population of 1,334 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 48845 has 1,003 at 16 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 48860 reports a median household income of $50,600 against $86,042 in ZIP 48845, with per-capita income of $28,694 vs $30,890. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.1% in 48860 and 8.7% in 48845. Poverty rate reads 21.6% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 6.8% — 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 $180,300 in 48860 versus $172,500 in 48845, with median rent of $779 and $800 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.4% vs 94.2%. 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.