ZIP 49953 vs ZIP 49960

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49953 (Ontonagon, MI) and ZIP 49960 (Rockland, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49953 has a population of 2,879 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 49960 has 185 at 2 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 49953 reports a median household income of $59,375 against $44,018 in ZIP 49960, with per-capita income of $34,882 vs $18,762. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.1% in 49953 and 7.2% in 49960. Poverty rate reads 8.7% vs 33.7%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 6.1% - 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 $119,800 in 49953 versus $61,900 in 49960, with median rent of $538 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.9% vs 98.1%. 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.