ZIP 49921 vs ZIP 49931

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49921 (Dodgeville, 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 49921 has a population of 360 at 339 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 49921 reports a median household income of — against $50,408 in ZIP 49931, with per-capita income of $28,178 vs $27,865. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.9% in 49921 and 62.1% in 49931. Poverty rate reads 15.3% vs 31.1%, and unemployment 9.8% 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 $211,500 in 49921 versus $232,800 in 49931, with median rent of $763 and $972 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.0% 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.