ZIP 49718 vs ZIP 49755

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49718 (Carp Lake, MI) and ZIP 49755 (Levering, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49718 has a population of 701 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 49755 has 1,892 at 7 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 49718 reports a median household income of $48,750 against $65,789 in ZIP 49755, with per-capita income of $30,766 vs $37,794. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.8% in 49718 and 23.5% in 49755. Poverty rate reads 32.6% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 6.1% — 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 $193,500 in 49718 versus $188,900 in 49755, with median rent of $725 and $881 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.8% vs 88.1%. 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.