ZIP 49436 vs ZIP 49455

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49436 (Mears, MI) and ZIP 49455 (Shelby, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49436 has a population of 1,622 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 49455 has 5,034 at 23 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 49436 reports a median household income of $67,279 against $63,621 in ZIP 49455, with per-capita income of $40,070 vs $32,684. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.9% in 49436 and 19.9% in 49455. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 14.1%, and unemployment 13.6% vs 5.2% — 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 $255,000 in 49436 versus $177,900 in 49455, with median rent of $1,013 and $694 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.6% vs 78.6%. 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.