ZIP 48866 vs ZIP 48831

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48866 (Ovid, MI) and ZIP 48831 (Elsie, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48866 has a population of 4,851 at 39 people per square mile, while ZIP 48831 has 3,512 at 19 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 48866 reports a median household income of $65,281 against $63,299 in ZIP 48831, with per-capita income of $32,193 vs $36,665. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.1% in 48866 and 13.2% in 48831. Poverty rate reads 12.7% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 9.5% — 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 $169,000 in 48866 versus $161,300 in 48831, with median rent of $857 and $916 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.8% vs 87.3%. 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.