ZIP 49650 vs ZIP 49643

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49650 (Lake Ann, MI) and ZIP 49643 (Interlochen, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49650 has a population of 3,144 at 49 people per square mile, while ZIP 49643 has 6,253 at 43 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 49650 reports a median household income of $87,500 against $81,222 in ZIP 49643, with per-capita income of $38,764 vs $38,963. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.4% in 49650 and 34.5% in 49643. Poverty rate reads 2.9% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 2.1% — 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 $275,400 in 49650 versus $271,300 in 49643, with median rent of $1,576 and $1,017 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.1% vs 87.3%. 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.