The Luckiest ZIP Code in Michigan

Apparently in terms of federal stimulus money and thousands of new jobs allegedly created, the luckiest place to live in Michigan is in the 48933 zip code. According to the U.S. Postal Service Web site, 48933 is none other than Lansing, our state capital.

The federal recovery reporting Web site, recovery.gov, lists this Lansing ZIP code as receiving $1,217,275,548 and creating 17,966.9 jobs. Recovery.gov credits Michigan with "creating/saving" 22,514 total jobs. By my math, Lansing accounts for almost 80 percent of the jobs "created" statewide.

If you go by the state's calculations of 19,190 jobs "created/retained," ZIP code 48933 would account for nearly 94 percent of the state's stimulus job creation.

See the screenshot below for the top jobs created/saved in Michigan by ZIP code or view the complete list here.

The second highest ZIP code on this list, 48909, is also Lansing. With a combined jobs total of 19,021, federal stimulus awards break down to $100,580.71 per job in these two Lansing ZIP codes.

If one uses money for nothing as a gauge, however, the sixth ZIP code on this list may indeed be the luckiest. ZIP code 48183, for Trenton, is getting $109,648,796. Jobs created or saved? Zero.

The unluckiest in both areas would be poor little 49819 of the central Upper Peninsula town of Arnold.  Like dozens of other ZIP codes on this list, 49819 also logged zero jobs created or saved, but also came in dead last. Its federal award amount: $230.

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