ZIP 49079 vs ZIP 49071

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49079 (Paw Paw, 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 49079 has a population of 13,606 at 63 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 49079 reports a median household income of $73,333 against $108,629 in ZIP 49071, with per-capita income of $35,350 vs $47,499. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.8% in 49079 and 38.6% in 49071. Poverty rate reads 11.8% 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 $234,400 in 49079 versus $284,800 in 49071, with median rent of $859 and $1,250 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.4% 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.