ZIP 49959 vs ZIP 49911

This side-by-side compares ZIP 49959 (Ramsay, MI) and ZIP 49911 (Bessemer, MI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 49959 has a population of 344 at 188 people per square mile, while ZIP 49911 has 2,744 at 26 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 49959 reports a median household income of $47,500 against $57,000 in ZIP 49911, with per-capita income of $24,016 vs $31,597. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.0% in 49959 and 21.8% in 49911. Poverty rate reads 22.8% vs 15.5%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 6.8% - 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 $65,600 in 49959 versus $106,300 in 49911, with median rent of - and $579 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.2% vs 77.7%. 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.