ZIP 49402 vs ZIP 49458

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49402 (Branch, MI) and ZIP 49458 (Walhalla, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49402 has a population of 1,380 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 49458 has 119 at 6 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 49402 reports a median household income of $51,324 against $113,077 in ZIP 49458, with per-capita income of $33,323 vs $24,163. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.4% in 49402 and 19.4% in 49458. Poverty rate reads 16.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 6.8% — 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 $169,800 in 49402 versus $57,800 in 49458, with median rent of $1,333 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.0% vs 93.2%. 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.