ZIP 48885 vs ZIP 48888

This side-by-side compares ZIP 48885 (Sidney, MI) and ZIP 48888 (Stanton, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 48885 has a population of 927 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 48888 has 6,366 at 28 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 48885 reports a median household income of $71,389 against $57,500 in ZIP 48888, with per-capita income of $27,897 vs $31,006. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.4% in 48885 and 14.0% in 48888. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 18.8%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 10.0% — 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 $200,500 in 48885 versus $159,300 in 48888, with median rent of $1,375 and $897 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 80.5%. 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.