ZIP 48861 vs ZIP 48890

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48861 (Mulliken, MI) and ZIP 48890 (Sunfield, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48861 has a population of 1,522 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 48890 has 2,152 at 27 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 48861 reports a median household income of $89,412 against $79,444 in ZIP 48890, with per-capita income of $45,404 vs $29,872. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.4% in 48861 and 14.3% in 48890. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 13.3%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 4.8% — 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 $184,600 in 48861 versus $175,800 in 48890, with median rent of $1,039 and $1,033 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.1% vs 77.7%. 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.