ZIP 49601 vs ZIP 49618

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49601 (Cadillac, MI) and ZIP 49618 (Boon, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49601 has a population of 21,236 at 40 people per square mile, while ZIP 49618 has 761 at 10 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 49601 reports a median household income of $63,498 against $53,654 in ZIP 49618, with per-capita income of $34,417 vs $28,642. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.6% in 49601 and 15.3% in 49618. Poverty rate reads 13.3% vs 21.4%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 0.4% — 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 $174,000 in 49601 versus $198,600 in 49618, with median rent of $887 and $1,458 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.8% vs 86.3%. 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.