ZIP 49840 vs ZIP 49836

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49840 (Gulliver, MI) and ZIP 49836 (Germfask, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49840 has a population of 771 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 49836 has 938 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 49840 reports a median household income of $61,250 against $85,500 in ZIP 49836, with per-capita income of $42,586 vs $41,282. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.9% in 49840 and 23.4% in 49836. Poverty rate reads 19.5% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 11.4% vs 6.8% — 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 $180,500 in 49840 versus $210,100 in 49836, with median rent of $1,167 and $592 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.3% vs 91.2%. 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.