ZIP 49302 vs ZIP 48815

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49302 (Alto, MI) and ZIP 48815 (Clarksville, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49302 has a population of 7,585 at 60 people per square mile, while ZIP 48815 has 2,259 at 32 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 49302 reports a median household income of $134,722 against $85,962 in ZIP 48815, with per-capita income of $48,635 vs $37,997. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.0% in 49302 and 27.6% in 48815. Poverty rate reads 3.2% vs 7.3%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 0.5% — 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 $400,700 in 49302 versus $244,200 in 48815, with median rent of — and $1,271 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.8% vs 88.5%. 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.