ZIP 49682 vs ZIP 49653

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49682 (Suttons Bay, MI) and ZIP 49653 (Lake Leelanau, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49682 has a population of 4,253 at 45 people per square mile, while ZIP 49653 has 1,922 at 27 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 49682 reports a median household income of $97,813 against $85,787 in ZIP 49653, with per-capita income of $52,657 vs $54,981. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.0% in 49682 and 52.2% in 49653. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 6.5%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 2.8% — 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 $396,500 in 49682 versus $669,800 in 49653, with median rent of $1,170 and $1,065 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.0% vs 93.4%. 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.