ZIP 49677 vs ZIP 49631

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49677 (Reed City, MI) and ZIP 49631 (Evart, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49677 has a population of 6,631 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 49631 has 6,357 at 17 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 49677 reports a median household income of $59,112 against $47,174 in ZIP 49631, with per-capita income of $31,200 vs $28,427. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.0% in 49677 and 14.7% in 49631. Poverty rate reads 14.1% vs 18.6%, and unemployment 7.2% vs 6.7% - 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 $142,000 in 49677 versus $132,300 in 49631, with median rent of $785 and $782 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.5% vs 81.6%. 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.