ZIP 49024 vs ZIP 49002

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49024 (Portage, MI) and ZIP 49002 (Portage, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49024 has a population of 28,552 at 643 people per square mile, while ZIP 49002 has 18,786 at 411 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 49024 reports a median household income of $91,105 against $73,647 in ZIP 49002, with per-capita income of $48,240 vs $43,871. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 51.8% in 49024 and 41.5% in 49002. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 2.7% — 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 $267,400 in 49024 versus $246,400 in 49002, with median rent of $1,234 and $962 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.5% vs 70.7%. 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.