ZIP 49326 vs ZIP 49347

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49326 (Gowen, MI) and ZIP 49347 (Trufant, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49326 has a population of 3,752 at 61 people per square mile, while ZIP 49347 has 1,257 at 26 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 49326 reports a median household income of $84,000 against $91,477 in ZIP 49347, with per-capita income of $34,791 vs $33,386. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.0% in 49326 and 16.4% in 49347. Poverty rate reads 6.5% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 10.6% — 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 $226,100 in 49326 versus $177,100 in 49347, with median rent of $996 and $975 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.7% vs 91.8%. 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.