ZIP 49873 vs ZIP 49886

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49873 (Perronville, MI) and ZIP 49886 (Spalding, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49873 has a population of 120 at 0 people per square mile, while ZIP 49886 has 435 at 11 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 49873 reports a median household income of $49,375 against $77,500 in ZIP 49886, with per-capita income of $41,009 vs $40,247. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.8% in 49873 and 10.2% in 49886. Poverty rate reads 9.2% vs 5.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 13.2% — 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 $182,100 in 49873 versus $157,200 in 49886, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 94.6%. 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.