ZIP 49858 vs ZIP 49887

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49858 (Menominee, MI) and ZIP 49887 (Stephenson, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49858 has a population of 12,088 at 54 people per square mile, while ZIP 49887 has 2,474 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 49858 reports a median household income of $53,186 against $58,375 in ZIP 49887, with per-capita income of $35,455 vs $30,578. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.6% in 49858 and 19.6% in 49887. Poverty rate reads 13.6% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 2.7% — 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 $134,400 in 49858 versus $156,600 in 49887, with median rent of $728 and $696 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.7% vs 85.8%. 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.