ZIP 49420 vs ZIP 49449

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49420 (Hart, MI) and ZIP 49449 (Pentwater, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49420 has a population of 6,420 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 49449 has 2,675 at 25 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 49420 reports a median household income of $58,841 against $80,917 in ZIP 49449, with per-capita income of $31,334 vs $50,128. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.1% in 49420 and 46.1% in 49449. Poverty rate reads 14.8% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 4.7% — 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 $167,000 in 49420 versus $307,300 in 49449, with median rent of $753 and $665 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 89.9%. 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.