ZIP 49339 vs ZIP 49329

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49339 (Pierson, MI) and ZIP 49329 (Howard City, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49339 has a population of 2,283 at 30 people per square mile, while ZIP 49329 has 8,641 at 41 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 49339 reports a median household income of $86,611 against $74,235 in ZIP 49329, with per-capita income of $37,689 vs $37,110. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.0% in 49339 and 14.5% in 49329. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 7.8%, and unemployment 0.1% vs 3.7% — 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 $241,100 in 49339 versus $207,900 in 49329, with median rent of $750 and $832 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.2% vs 90.8%. 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.