Study Reveals Disparity in Salaries Between Northville ZIP Codes

Northville-based Algal Scientific Corp. has two business units that serve the animal feed, human nutrition, and wastewater treatment industries. The scientific sector is one reason average salaries paid in Northville’s 48168 ZIP are among the highest in the state. (Photo courtesy of Algal Scientific Corp.)

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Northville’s 48168 ZIP code is one of the highest-paying places in Michigan, according to a new study from the consumer finance site NerdWallet.

That section of the city of 6,000, which straddles the Oakland and Wayne county lines, ranked fifth among 930 places in the study with an average annual salary of $96,119, which was based on an analysis of U.S. Census data.

In contrast, Northville’s other ZIP code, 48167, ranked 169th in the study, with an average salary of $44,053.

The analysis also produced these findings:

• Science is big. The professional, scientific and technical services industry is one of the largest sectors in our top-paying ZIP codes.
• Small cities are seeing large salaries. In contrast to its neighbor Illinois, the top-paying ZIP codes in Michigan tend to be concentrated in medium to smaller cities.
• Middle of the road pay. Michigan’s top salaries weren’t as high on average we found in Illinois, but they were substantially above the wages residents earn in Ohio.

Here’s the Top 10 highest-paying ZIP codes in Michigan:

1. 49757 –Mackinac Island ($130,565)
2. 48153 – Livonia ($123,846)
3. 48113 – Ann Arbor ($100,083)
4. 48611 – Auburn/Williams Charter Township ($99,715)
5. 48168 – Northville ($96,119)
6. 48106 – Ann Arbor ($95,655)
7. 48151 – Livonia ($93,067)
8. 49588 – Grand Rapids ($92,571)
9. 48069 – Pleasant Ridge ($87,669)
10. 48435 – Fostoria ($85,080)

Located between Seven Mile Road and Five Mile Road, the 48168 ZIP code includes the area east of Haggerty Road to Tower Road. This section of Northville is quite wealthy, with the area in the top 10 statewide for residents’ income and local salaries.

While there are a variety of industries in 48168, the largest business sector includes businesses in the professional, scientific and technical services, with companies such as Aims DataCom, Algal Scientific Corp. and Aisin World Corp. of America contributing to the $96,119 salary in the area.

All data in this study are from a 2012 survey on business patterns conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

To find the highest paying ZIP codes in America, WalletNerd took the annual total payroll of the ZIP code and divided it by the number of workers in that area.

Certain ZIP codes were excluded because they are exempt from requirements to provide payroll data.

Qualitative data are from city-data.com, michigan.hometownlocator.com andyellowbook.com.

Other data are from the Census Bureau’s 2012 CB1200CZ21 survey.

» See how all 930 places in the survey ranked here.