ZIP 49048 vs ZIP 49001

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49048 (Kalamazoo, MI) and ZIP 49001 (Kalamazoo, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49048 has a population of 25,432 at 259 people per square mile, while ZIP 49001 has 22,095 at 1,109 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 49048 reports a median household income of $60,454 against $56,432 in ZIP 49001, with per-capita income of $32,212 vs $29,405. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.9% in 49048 and 30.3% in 49001. Poverty rate reads 12.6% vs 20.1%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 4.9% — 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 $177,200 in 49048 versus $157,300 in 49001, with median rent of $1,074 and $1,152 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.8% vs 51.9%. 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.