ZIP 49030 vs ZIP 49040

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49030 (Burr Oak, MI) and ZIP 49040 (Colon, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49030 has a population of 2,523 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 49040 has 3,388 at 33 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 49030 reports a median household income of $69,167 against $64,306 in ZIP 49040, with per-capita income of $28,614 vs $32,325. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.6% in 49030 and 14.3% in 49040. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 11.4%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 3.5% — 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 $138,400 in 49030 versus $169,900 in 49040, with median rent of $855 and $791 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.4% vs 81.0%. 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.