ZIP 49249 vs ZIP 49282

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49249 (Jerome, MI) and ZIP 49282 (Somerset Center, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49249 has a population of 3,408 at 41 people per square mile, while ZIP 49282 has 372 at 49 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 49249 reports a median household income of $82,407 against $34,911 in ZIP 49282, with per-capita income of $53,170 vs $22,289. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.8% in 49249 and 0.0% in 49282. Poverty rate reads 5.0% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $224,000 in 49249 versus — in 49282, with median rent of $1,573 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.1% vs 87.8%. 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.