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ZIP Code48852

Mcbrides, MI

Montcalm County · Michigan · United States
Home to 170 people across 0.191 square miles.

EasternOwner-majority18 ZIPs in county

At a glance

48852 by the numbers

Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.

Population
170
±63 · bottom 10% nationally
Median household income
$46,250
US median $70,109 · bottom 25%
Median home value
$94,000
US median $207,500 · bottom 10%
Median age
49.8
US median 42 years
Population density
890/mi²
top 25% most dense
Land area
0.191 mi²
negligible water area

Location

Where 48852 is

43.352631, -85.046437 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates43.352631, -85.046437
Time zoneAmerica/Detroit
CountyMontcalm County
StateMichigan (MI)
Land area0.191 mi²
Coordinate sourceCensus ZCTA internal point

Local time

America/Detroit

—:—:—

Current weather

Live from the National Weather Service

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Distance to major cities

Straight-line, computed from coordinates

Chicago, IL166.2 mi
Philadelphia, PA561.1 mi
New York, NY594.7 mi
Atlanta, GA664.5 mi

People

Who lives in 48852

170 residents in 67 households, averaging 2.54 people per household. The largest age group is 55-64 at 21.8% of residents, and 70.1% of households are families.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1819.4%
18-246.5%
25-3413.5%
35-445.9%
45-5420.0%
55-6421.8%
65+12.9%

Households

Composition and size

Total households67
Average household size2.54
Family households70.1%
Living alone29.9%
Median age49.8 years
Households with internet85.1%

Race & ethnicity

Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.

White95.9%
Asian0.6%
Two or more3.5%

Income & work

What people earn in 48852

The median household here earns $46,250 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 48852 ahead of 11% of American ZIP codes. 10.6% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$46,250
LowestHighest
Higher than 11% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$46,250 ±$16,509
Per capita income$20,339
Poverty rate10.6%
Unemployment rate0.0%
Labor force participation41.1%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k23.9%
$25-50k34.3%
$50-75k22.4%
$75-100k7.5%
$100-150k11.9%
$150-200k0.0%
$200k+0.0%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 12.7% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 94.4% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 48852

A typical home is valued at $94,000. This is an owner-majority area — 92.5% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1938.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value$94,000
Median gross rent—/mo
Median year built1938
Housing units68
Vacancy rate1.5%

Own vs. rent

Of 67 occupied units

Owner-occupied92.5%
Renter-occupied7.5%
Owner households62
Renter households5

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family97.1%
2-4 units2.9%

Getting to work

How 48852 commutes

94.6% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 22.7 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone94.6%
Carpooled5.4%

Travel time

Mean commute 22.7 minutes

<10 min10.7%
10-1950.0%
20-2912.5%
30-4417.9%
45-597.1%
60+1.8%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 48852

ZIP code 48852 is assigned to Mcbrides, MI, and falls within Montcalm County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 170 people live inside it.

At 890 residents per square mile spread over 0.191 square miles, 48852 reads as a small-town area. It is a sparsely populated postal code, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.

Household earnings are well below the national median. At $46,250, 48852 ranks among the lower-income postal codes, ahead of 11% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.

Living here

What life in Mcbrides looks like

Housing in 48852 costs well below the national median. A typical home is valued at $94,000 against a US median of $207,500. Ownership dominates: 92.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, which usually signals an established residential area with relatively low turnover.

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 97.1% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1938, making the housing here largely pre-war. At 1.5%, vacancy is low — housing here is tightly held.

The population skews older than the national median, with a median age of 49.8 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.54 people, and 70.1% are family households.

Getting to work takes 22.7 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 94.6% of workers.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Mcbrides, MI

Mcbrides is a smaller community, so options inside 48852 may be limited to a handful of independent inns, motels or bed-and-breakfast properties. Travellers often widen the search to the surrounding area, where the choice is greater and prices are usually competitive.

For reference, Chicago, IL is about 166.2 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.

Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 48852 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 48852 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.

For anyone weighing a move, 48852 offers a compact profile of Mcbrides: 170 residents, a median household income of $46,250, 12.7% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 0.0%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.

One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 48852 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Mcbrides may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.

Nearby

ZIP codes near 48852

The eight closest postal codes by centroid distance, each with its own full profile. You can also browse every Michigan ZIP code or use the ZIP Express Lookup to search by city, county or time zone.

More in Montcalm County

Look up another

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Questions

Common questions about 48852

What city is ZIP code 48852 in?
48852 serves Mcbrides, Michigan, in Montcalm County, United States.
What is the population of 48852?
About 170 people live in ZIP code 48852, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±63. That works out to roughly 890 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 48852?
The median household income in 48852 is $46,250 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $20,339. Median income is more representative than an average because it isn't skewed by a small number of very high earners.
How expensive is housing in 48852?
The median home value is $94,000 and median gross rent is — a month. 92.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Is 48852 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 12.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 0.0%, and the median age is 49.8. The average commute is 22.7 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 48852 in?
48852 observes Eastern Time (America/Detroit). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 48852?
ZIP code 48852 covers 0.191 square miles of land, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 48852 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 48852 reads as a small-town area. It holds 890 people per square mile across 0.191 square miles of land. For reference, densities above 10,000 per square mile generally indicate an urban core, 1,000–3,000 is typically suburban, and under 200 is rural. These are rules of thumb rather than official designations — the Census Bureau classifies urban and rural areas by census block, not by ZIP code.
What is the commute like from 48852?
The average one-way commute from 48852 takes about 22.7 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 94.6% of workers aged 16 and over. Commute figures cover people who were employed and working outside the home during the survey period.
How many people work in 48852?
About 58 residents of 48852 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 41.1% and the unemployment rate is 0.0%. Note this counts residents by where they live, not by where they work — a ZIP with many offices can have far more jobs than employed residents.
Where should I stay when visiting 48852?
Accommodation in and around Mcbrides, MI ranges with the character of the area. See the 'Where to stay' section on this page for local context, and use the live search there for current availability and pricing.
Does 48852 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Mcbrides as the primary place and Montcalm County as the county. ZIP codes follow mail delivery routes rather than municipal or county lines, so a single code can straddle boundaries, and USPS also recognises alternate acceptable city names for many codes. If you need the definitive answer for a specific street address, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup is the authority.
Can ZIP code 48852 change?
Yes. USPS adjusts ZIP codes as delivery volumes shift — codes are occasionally split, merged, retired or newly created, and boundaries move more often than most people assume. The Census Bureau's ZCTA definitions, which underpin the demographic figures on this page, are redrawn only once a decade, so the two can drift apart between censuses.

Methodology

Where this data comes from

  • Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
  • Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 48852. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
  • Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
  • Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
  • Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
On accuracy. ACS figures are survey estimates, not counts. The margin of error shown alongside the population figure means the true value has a 90% chance of falling in that range. For small ZIP codes the error can be large relative to the estimate — treat the direction as more reliable than the exact number. This page reports data for ZCTA 48852, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.