ZIP 49807 vs ZIP 49896

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49807 (Bark River, MI) and ZIP 49896 (Wilson, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49807 has a population of 3,390 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 49896 has 1,749 at 12 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 49807 reports a median household income of $75,329 against $56,167 in ZIP 49896, with per-capita income of $35,725 vs $28,553. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.1% in 49807 and 17.4% in 49896. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 13.8%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 6.4% — 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 $178,800 in 49807 versus $164,800 in 49896, with median rent of $936 and $421 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.7% vs 75.7%. 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.