ZIP 49905 vs ZIP 49931

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49905 (Atlantic Mine, MI) and ZIP 49931 (Houghton, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49905 has a population of 2,005 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 49931 has 9,630 at 132 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 49905 reports a median household income of $77,617 against $50,408 in ZIP 49931, with per-capita income of $33,228 vs $27,865. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.2% in 49905 and 62.1% in 49931. Poverty rate reads 6.8% vs 31.1%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 8.2% — 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 $211,300 in 49905 versus $232,800 in 49931, with median rent of $1,006 and $972 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.8% vs 44.1%. 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.