ZIP 49331 vs ZIP 49301

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49331 (Lowell, MI) and ZIP 49301 (Ada, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49331 has a population of 16,627 at 71 people per square mile, while ZIP 49301 has 18,701 at 127 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 49331 reports a median household income of $91,800 against $183,125 in ZIP 49301, with per-capita income of $40,823 vs $84,356. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.8% in 49331 and 70.8% in 49301. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 1.4%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 1.7% — 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 $315,300 in 49331 versus $548,800 in 49301, with median rent of $1,295 and $2,027 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.4% vs 94.1%. 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.