ZIP 49783 vs ZIP 49788

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49783 (Sault Sainte Marie, MI) and ZIP 49788 (Kincheloe, 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 49788 has 6,609 at 329 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 $57,524 in ZIP 49788, with per-capita income of $32,313 vs $22,796. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.1% in 49783 and 20.2% in 49788. Poverty rate reads 14.6% vs 25.0%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 15.0% — 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 $112,200 in 49788, with median rent of $795 and $854 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.2% vs 47.3%. 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.