ZIP 49642 vs ZIP 49623

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49642 (Idlewild, MI) and ZIP 49623 (Chase, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49642 has a population of 842 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 49623 has 1,164 at 8 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 49642 reports a median household income of $26,950 against $60,147 in ZIP 49623, with per-capita income of $21,211 vs $30,007. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 49642 and 11.1% in 49623. Poverty rate reads 37.6% vs 21.1%, and unemployment 1.6% 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 $116,100 in 49642 versus $132,900 in 49623, with median rent of $763 and $725 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.9% vs 89.9%. 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.