ZIP 49201 vs ZIP 49203

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49201 (Jackson, MI) and ZIP 49203 (Jackson, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49201 has a population of 45,190 at 114 people per square mile, while ZIP 49203 has 38,280 at 562 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 49201 reports a median household income of $74,484 against $56,201 in ZIP 49203, with per-capita income of $33,966 vs $32,080. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.4% in 49201 and 22.4% in 49203. Poverty rate reads 10.9% vs 14.2%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 6.5% — 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 $215,900 in 49201 versus $159,100 in 49203, with median rent of $976 and $1,019 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.2% vs 66.9%. 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.