ZIP 49829 vs ZIP 49837

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49829 (Escanaba, MI) and ZIP 49837 (Gladstone, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49829 has a population of 17,347 at 103 people per square mile, while ZIP 49837 has 9,795 at 55 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 49829 reports a median household income of $50,277 against $64,306 in ZIP 49837, with per-capita income of $32,314 vs $43,588. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.1% in 49829 and 23.5% in 49837. Poverty rate reads 15.9% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 3.5% — 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 $146,300 in 49829 versus $157,400 in 49837, with median rent of $661 and $887 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.9% vs 89.3%. 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.