ZIP 49045 vs ZIP 49064

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49045 (Decatur, MI) and ZIP 49064 (Lawrence, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49045 has a population of 5,598 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 49064 has 3,717 at 32 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 49045 reports a median household income of $57,436 against $68,607 in ZIP 49064, with per-capita income of $33,383 vs $33,595. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.5% in 49045 and 23.4% in 49064. Poverty rate reads 18.0% vs 18.6%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 3.8% — 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 $177,300 in 49045 versus $171,500 in 49064, with median rent of $838 and $618 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.6% vs 78.8%. 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.