ZIP 49915 vs ZIP 49927

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49915 (Caspian, MI) and ZIP 49927 (Gaastra, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49915 has a population of 630 at 270 people per square mile, while ZIP 49927 has 483 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 49915 reports a median household income of $35,000 against $47,500 in ZIP 49927, with per-capita income of $27,342 vs $22,359. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.7% in 49915 and 22.3% in 49927. Poverty rate reads 34.0% vs 30.6%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 9.4% — 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 $79,100 in 49915 versus $53,800 in 49927, with median rent of $780 and $685 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.0% vs 92.5%. 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.