ZIP 49783 vs ZIP 49724

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49783 (Sault Sainte Marie, MI) and ZIP 49724 (Dafter, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49783 has a population of 19,668 at 50 people per square mile, while ZIP 49724 has 1,146 at 8 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 49783 reports a median household income of $60,658 against $82,321 in ZIP 49724, with per-capita income of $32,313 vs $35,757. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.1% in 49783 and 38.4% in 49724. Poverty rate reads 14.6% vs 12.7%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 2.5% — 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 $158,800 in 49783 versus $165,900 in 49724, with median rent of $795 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.2% vs 95.9%. 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.