ZIP 49426 vs ZIP 49428

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49426 (Hudsonville, MI) and ZIP 49428 (Jenison, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49426 has a population of 33,244 at 205 people per square mile, while ZIP 49428 has 25,420 at 595 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 49426 reports a median household income of $112,234 against $100,225 in ZIP 49428, with per-capita income of $44,779 vs $39,761. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.7% in 49426 and 41.0% in 49428. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 2.1% — 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 $371,200 in 49426 versus $307,500 in 49428, with median rent of $1,344 and $1,729 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% vs 87.3%. 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.