ZIP 49801 vs ZIP 49881

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49801 (Iron Mountain, MI) and ZIP 49881 (Sagola, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49801 has a population of 11,424 at 29 people per square mile, while ZIP 49881 has 345 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 49801 reports a median household income of $67,337 against $85,625 in ZIP 49881, with per-capita income of $38,280 vs $37,595. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.9% in 49801 and 44.7% in 49881. Poverty rate reads 10.6% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 4.8% — 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 $168,700 in 49801 versus $278,800 in 49881, with median rent of $747 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.6% vs 87.0%. 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.