ZIP 49779 vs ZIP 49743

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