ZIP 49756 vs ZIP 49746

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49756 (Lewiston, MI) and ZIP 49746 (Hillman, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49756 has a population of 3,857 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 49746 has 3,685 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 49756 reports a median household income of $53,333 against $47,432 in ZIP 49746, with per-capita income of $34,292 vs $29,074. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.2% in 49756 and 12.3% in 49746. Poverty rate reads 16.8% vs 21.1%, and unemployment 7.3% vs 4.5% - 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 $162,900 in 49756 versus $164,400 in 49746, with median rent of $828 and $625 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.4% vs 85.8%. 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.