ZIP 49960 vs ZIP 49953

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