ZIP 49622 vs ZIP 49729

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49622 (Central Lake, MI) and ZIP 49729 (Ellsworth, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49622 has a population of 2,494 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 49729 has 1,446 at 15 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 49622 reports a median household income of $70,098 against $77,870 in ZIP 49729, with per-capita income of $41,994 vs $35,740. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.4% in 49622 and 28.4% in 49729. Poverty rate reads 8.7% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 5.3% 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 $234,400 in 49622 versus $243,200 in 49729, with median rent of $1,000 and $890 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.6% vs 86.1%. 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.