ZIP 49738 vs ZIP 49733

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49738 (Grayling, MI) and ZIP 49733 (Frederic, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49738 has a population of 9,924 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 49733 has 1,965 at 6 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 49738 reports a median household income of $59,708 against $66,318 in ZIP 49733, with per-capita income of $31,948 vs $32,042. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.9% in 49738 and 15.0% in 49733. Poverty rate reads 14.7% vs 12.0%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 9.6% - 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 $168,800 in 49738 versus $147,700 in 49733, with median rent of $870 and $890 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.7% vs 89.2%. 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.