ZIP 49822 vs ZIP 49826

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49822 (Deerton, MI) and ZIP 49826 (Rumely, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49822 has a population of 220 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 49826 has 137 at 4 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 49822 reports a median household income of $58,214 against $61,107 in ZIP 49826, with per-capita income of $34,929 vs $13,339. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.3% in 49822 and 20.0% in 49826. Poverty rate reads 14.5% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% - 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 $283,800 in 49822 versus $335,700 in 49826, with median rent of - and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.4% vs 100.0%. 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.