ZIP 49848 vs ZIP 49893

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49848 (Ingalls, MI) and ZIP 49893 (Wallace, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49848 has a population of 128 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 49893 has 1,784 at 9 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 49848 reports a median household income of $38,750 against $63,125 in ZIP 49893, with per-capita income of $28,880 vs $41,469. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 49848 and 17.5% in 49893. Poverty rate reads 1.5% vs 8.7%, and unemployment 28.9% vs 3.9% — 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 $144,600 in 49848 versus $197,600 in 49893, with median rent of — and $763 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.7% vs 92.4%. 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.