ZIP 49618 vs ZIP 49601

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