ZIP 49820 vs ZIP 49827

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49820 (Curtis, MI) and ZIP 49827 (Engadine, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49820 has a population of 382 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 49827 has 897 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 49820 reports a median household income of — against $46,827 in ZIP 49827, with per-capita income of $73,361 vs $22,499. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.1% in 49820 and 20.5% in 49827. Poverty rate reads 9.9% vs 20.8%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 12.6% — 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 $159,600 in 49820 versus $151,600 in 49827, with median rent of $342 and $822 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.6% vs 73.2%. 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.