ZIP 49877 vs ZIP 49831

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49877 (Ralph, MI) and ZIP 49831 (Felch, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49877 has a population of 67 at 0 people per square mile, while ZIP 49831 has 780 at 3 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 49877 reports a median household income of $81,458 against $66,750 in ZIP 49831, with per-capita income of $49,570 vs $36,333. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 3.6% in 49877 and 15.3% in 49831. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 5.6%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.9% — 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 $137,500 in 49877 versus $124,800 in 49831, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.7% vs 95.3%. 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.