ZIP 49866 vs ZIP 49871

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49866 (Negaunee, MI) and ZIP 49871 (Palmer, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49866 has a population of 8,034 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 49871 has 510 at 15 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 49866 reports a median household income of $85,019 against $63,125 in ZIP 49871, with per-capita income of $36,309 vs $30,666. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.7% in 49866 and 13.4% in 49871. Poverty rate reads 9.7% vs 5.9%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 6.9% — 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 $212,300 in 49866 versus $81,900 in 49871, with median rent of $856 and $679 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 86.7%. 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.