ZIP 49743 vs ZIP 49779

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49743 (Hawks, MI) and ZIP 49779 (Rogers City, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49743 has a population of 769 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 49779 has 4,639 at 15 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 49743 reports a median household income of $52,969 against $53,465 in ZIP 49779, with per-capita income of $29,396 vs $35,507. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.1% in 49743 and 20.2% in 49779. Poverty rate reads 19.6% vs 15.8%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 5.4% - 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 $126,400 in 49743 versus $124,000 in 49779, with median rent of - and $698 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.7% vs 85.1%. 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.