ZIP 49633 vs ZIP 49680

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49633 (Fife Lake, MI) and ZIP 49680 (South Boardman, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49633 has a population of 3,703 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 49680 has 1,916 at 14 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 49633 reports a median household income of $73,681 against $77,216 in ZIP 49680, with per-capita income of $42,820 vs $28,247. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.1% in 49633 and 18.7% in 49680. Poverty rate reads 15.9% vs 12.9%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 4.0% — 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 $189,700 in 49633 versus $168,000 in 49680, with median rent of $1,206 and $833 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.4% vs 93.9%. 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.