ZIP 49283 vs ZIP 49246

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49283 (Spring Arbor, MI) and ZIP 49246 (Horton, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49283 has a population of 4,362 at 124 people per square mile, while ZIP 49246 has 3,255 at 37 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 49283 reports a median household income of $108,464 against $81,908 in ZIP 49246, with per-capita income of $28,965 vs $38,831. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.9% in 49283 and 30.9% in 49246. Poverty rate reads 5.9% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 1.9% — 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 $218,400 in 49283 versus $254,100 in 49246, with median rent of $1,244 and $1,083 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.9% vs 94.3%. 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.