ZIP 49276 vs ZIP 49267

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49276 (Riga, MI) and ZIP 49267 (Ottawa Lake, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49276 has a population of 1,003 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 49267 has 4,072 at 39 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 49276 reports a median household income of $73,750 against $97,961 in ZIP 49267, with per-capita income of $52,340 vs $57,064. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.0% in 49276 and 25.1% in 49267. Poverty rate reads 3.1% vs 4.1%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 2.2% — 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 $192,600 in 49276 versus $267,900 in 49267, with median rent of $750 and $866 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.2% vs 83.6%. 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.