ZIP 49935 vs ZIP 49915

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49935 (Iron River, MI) and ZIP 49915 (Caspian, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49935 has a population of 6,096 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 49915 has 630 at 270 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 49935 reports a median household income of $57,236 against $35,000 in ZIP 49915, with per-capita income of $33,088 vs $27,342. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.9% in 49935 and 13.7% in 49915. Poverty rate reads 15.8% vs 34.0%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 5.0% — 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 $111,500 in 49935 versus $79,100 in 49915, with median rent of $490 and $780 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.4% vs 83.0%. 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.