ZIP 49917 vs ZIP 49942

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49917 (Copper City, MI) and ZIP 49942 (Kearsarge, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49917 has a population of 205 at 46 people per square mile, while ZIP 49942 has 156 at 59 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 49917 reports a median household income of $52,917 against $54,722 in ZIP 49942, with per-capita income of $20,059 vs $59,527. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.7% in 49917 and 43.8% in 49942. Poverty rate reads 12.0% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 27.8% vs 0.0% — 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 $107,800 in 49917 versus — in 49942, with median rent of $817 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.1% vs 100.0%. 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.