ZIP 49043 vs ZIP 49038

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49043 (Covert, MI) and ZIP 49038 (Coloma, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49043 has a population of 2,462 at 29 people per square mile, while ZIP 49038 has 9,310 at 95 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 49043 reports a median household income of $36,280 against $62,636 in ZIP 49038, with per-capita income of $18,154 vs $37,953. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.0% in 49043 and 20.8% in 49038. Poverty rate reads 34.9% vs 11.2%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 3.7% — 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 $153,300 in 49043 versus $206,800 in 49038, with median rent of $725 and $938 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.7% vs 76.7%. 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.