ZIP 49065 vs ZIP 49071

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49065 (Lawton, MI) and ZIP 49071 (Mattawan, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49065 has a population of 6,662 at 59 people per square mile, while ZIP 49071 has 9,174 at 124 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 49065 reports a median household income of $71,447 against $108,629 in ZIP 49071, with per-capita income of $38,456 vs $47,499. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 49065 and 38.6% in 49071. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 4.8%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 2.9% — 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 $233,100 in 49065 versus $284,800 in 49071, with median rent of $735 and $1,250 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.0% vs 90.8%. 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.