ZIP 49881 vs ZIP 49801

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49881 (Sagola, MI) and ZIP 49801 (Iron Mountain, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49881 has a population of 345 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 49801 has 11,424 at 29 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 49881 reports a median household income of $85,625 against $67,337 in ZIP 49801, with per-capita income of $37,595 vs $38,280. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.7% in 49881 and 24.9% in 49801. Poverty rate reads 4.5% vs 10.6%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 4.4% — 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 $278,800 in 49881 versus $168,700 in 49801, with median rent of — and $747 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.0% vs 81.6%. 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.