ZIP 49740 vs ZIP 49769

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49740 (Harbor Springs, MI) and ZIP 49769 (Pellston, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49740 has a population of 7,042 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 49769 has 1,644 at 12 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 49740 reports a median household income of $89,250 against $67,558 in ZIP 49769, with per-capita income of $59,642 vs $28,229. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.5% in 49740 and 23.0% in 49769. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 5.7% — 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 $363,500 in 49740 versus $160,000 in 49769, with median rent of $991 and $1,016 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.7% vs 78.1%. 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.