ZIP 49321 vs ZIP 49544

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49321 (Comstock Park, MI) and ZIP 49544 (Grand Rapids, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49321 has a population of 16,241 at 243 people per square mile, while ZIP 49544 has 8,944 at 166 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 49321 reports a median household income of $77,870 against $74,390 in ZIP 49544, with per-capita income of $38,602 vs $40,151. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.3% in 49321 and 33.6% in 49544. Poverty rate reads 8.7% vs 10.3%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 4.6% — 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 $274,400 in 49321 versus $264,000 in 49544, with median rent of $1,191 and $1,204 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.6% vs 65.0%. 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.