ZIP 49717 vs ZIP 49706

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49717 (Burt Lake, MI) and ZIP 49706 (Alanson, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49717 has a population of 72 at 30 people per square mile, while ZIP 49706 has 4,585 at 28 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 49717 reports a median household income of — against $76,906 in ZIP 49706, with per-capita income of $54,916 vs $40,683. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.0% in 49717 and 27.7% in 49706. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 2.0% — 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 — in 49717 versus $248,500 in 49706, with median rent of — and $1,146 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 81.7%. 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.