ZIP 49955 vs ZIP 49963

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49955 (Painesdale, MI) and ZIP 49963 (South Range, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49955 has a population of 371 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 49963 has 1,024 at 33 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 49955 reports a median household income of $64,402 against $58,958 in ZIP 49963, with per-capita income of $33,946 vs $33,227. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.3% in 49955 and 14.7% in 49963. Poverty rate reads 20.5% vs 22.1%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 2.3% — 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 $96,200 in 49955 versus $93,500 in 49963, with median rent of — and $817 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.8% vs 74.1%. 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.