ZIP 49452 vs ZIP 49446

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49452 (Rothbury, MI) and ZIP 49446 (New Era, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49452 has a population of 1,952 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 49446 has 2,321 at 28 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 49452 reports a median household income of $55,441 against $65,217 in ZIP 49446, with per-capita income of $28,308 vs $31,721. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.0% in 49452 and 23.7% in 49446. Poverty rate reads 17.5% vs 15.8%, and unemployment 12.6% 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 $123,100 in 49452 versus $209,100 in 49446, with median rent of $796 and $744 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.0% vs 86.8%. 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.