ZIP 48875 vs ZIP 48851

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48875 (Portland, MI) and ZIP 48851 (Lyons, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48875 has a population of 10,186 at 46 people per square mile, while ZIP 48851 has 2,365 at 29 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 48875 reports a median household income of $94,216 against $65,726 in ZIP 48851, with per-capita income of $45,839 vs $28,526. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.9% in 48875 and 14.2% in 48851. Poverty rate reads 5.0% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 9.8% — 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 $227,500 in 48875 versus $158,000 in 48851, with median rent of $1,055 and $1,073 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.9% vs 91.2%. 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.