ZIP code 49038

ZIP 49038 is a mid-size town in Berrien County, Michigan, with 8,577 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #359 of 992 ranked by population — larger than 63% of them. The median age here is 45.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in ZIP 49038 earn a median of $60,396 a year, 23.1% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 12.5% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 49038 is valued at $196,200, 35.3% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $944 a month, 32.9% below the national figure, or roughly $11,328 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 18.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.2×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 73.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 49038 is tabulated inside Berrien County, Michigan, one of 23 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 992 across Michigan. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 49038 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 49038 reports a median household income of $60,396, 8% below the $65,410 county median, and 9% below the $66,726 typical MI ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $196,200, 13% below the county figure and 9% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $944 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Michigan charges 6% statewide, and no local sales tax is layered on top, so the state rate is the full amount collected in 49038.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 49038 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.