Home age in ZIP 49503, Grand Rapids, MI: median built 1938

Home age is not roof age, and the Census does not record replacements. ZIP 49503 in Grand Rapids, MI: median home built 1938; 83.5% of homes (15,888) are older than 25 years and 11.7% (2,225) were built since 2010, out of 19,017 homes.

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019 to 2023 (5-year estimates), retrieved October 9, 2026. Area = Census ZIP Code Tabulation Area 49503.

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Share of homes in ZIP 49503 by decade builtColumns from the pre-1940 decade on the left to 2020 and later on the right. pre-1940 51.6 percent; 1940s 5.7 percent; 1950s 8.5 percent; 1960s 4.2 percent; 1970s 4.2 percent; 1980s 4 percent; 1990s 5.4 percent; 2000s 4.8 percent; 2010s 11.2 percent; 2020+ 0.5 percentpre-1940: 9,815 homes, 51.6%51.6%pre-1940Kent County: 16.5%1940s: 1,083 homes, 5.7%5.7%1940sKent County: 5.6%1950s: 1,617 homes, 8.5%8.5%1950sKent County: 10.8%1960s: 804 homes, 4.2%4.2%1960sKent County: 9.4%1970s: 793 homes, 4.2%4.2%1970sKent County: 12.2%1980s: 752 homes, 4.0%4%1980sKent County: 10.7%1990s: 1,024 homes, 5.4%5.4%1990sKent County: 14.2%2000s: 904 homes, 4.8%4.8%2000sKent County: 11.8%2010s: 2,131 homes, 11.2%11.2%2010sKent County: 8.0%2020+: 94 homes, 0.5%0.5%2020+Kent County: 0.9%Built 1999 or earlier: 83.5% of homes (15,888)ZIP 49503, built before 2000built 2000 or laterKent County

Share of the 19,017 housing units in the ZIP, by decade built. The red marks are Kent County. This counts houses, not roofs: a roof is replaced several times in the life of a house, and no federal survey records when.

ZIP 49503 next to Grand Rapids and Kent County

IndicatorZIP 49503Grand RapidsKent CountyRank among 5 ZIPs of Grand Rapids on this site
Housing units19,01785,145267,0711st of 5 largest
Median year built1938195319761st of 5 oldest
Built before 198074.2%75.3%54.3%
Built before 200083.5%no data79.3%5th of 5 highest share
Built since 201011.7%no data8.9%
Owner-occupied homes37.5%54.6%70.4%5th of 5 highest share
Single-family units42.2%61.8%no data
Median home value$224,100 (+/- $10,040)$225,500$265,7003rd of 5 highest
Median household income$61,734 (+/- $3,624)$65,526no data4th of 5 highest

City figures are for the Census place, county figures for the county; “no data” means the Census file does not publish that figure. Value and income are survey estimates, the plus-or-minus is the 90% margin of error.

Every decade in ZIP 49503

BuiltShare of Kent CountyShare of ZIPHomes in ZIP 49503
2020+0.9%0.5%94
2010s8.0%11.2%2,131
2000s11.8%4.8%904
1990s14.2%5.4%1,024
1980s10.7%4.0%752
1970s12.2%4.2%793
1960s9.4%4.2%804
1950s10.8%8.5%1,617
1940s5.6%5.7%1,083
pre-194016.5%51.6%9,815

Counts are Census estimates of housing units by year built (table B25034). If a roof had never been replaced, it would be 3 to 6 years old on a house from the 2020s, 17 to 26 on one from the 2000s, 37 to 46 on one from the 1980s and 87 or more on one from before 1940. Most older houses have had at least one replacement, and the Census does not record when.

What the numbers say about ZIP 49503

ZIP 49503 has 19,017 housing units: 15,888 (83.5%) were built before 2000, 2,225 (11.7%) in 2010 or later, and 9,815 (51.6%) before 1940, its largest era. The median year built is 1938 (Grand Rapids: 1953), so 15 years older than the city.

Housing mix and money, from the same survey: 37.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied; 42.2% of units are single-family houses; the median owner-occupied home is valued at $224,100, give or take $10,040; median household income is $61,734, give or take $3,624; the ZIP holds 22.3% of the housing units the Census counts in Grand Rapids, 19,017 of them. These are survey estimates with margins of error, and for a small ZIP the margin can be wide.

Reading this for roofs, carefully: the Census records when a house was built, never when its roof was last replaced. If every roof were still the one installed with its house, 14,864 units (78.2%, built before 1990) would be past the 30-year top of the usual asphalt-shingle range, 1,024 (5.4%, the 1990s) would mostly sit past it, 904 (4.8%, the 2000s) would mostly be inside the 20 to 30 year window and 2,225 (11.7%, 2010 onward) would be younger than it. Most older roofs have been replaced, so treat these as the pool of houses where an old roof is possible, not as a count of old roofs.

Roof age calculator for ZIP 49503

Enter the year your house was built, and the year the roof was last replaced if you know it. It starts at the median year built for this ZIP. The share of neighbours’ homes older than yours comes from this ZIP’s own decade counts.

–years old (roof)
–of homes in ZIP 49503 are older
–vs. the ZIP median year built

Material ranges are general planning figures (the same ones as on our roof-age page), not warranties. Sun, storms, attic ventilation and installation quality move them. The decade shares assume homes were built evenly within each decade. This is not an inspection: a roofer on the roof decides.

Map: ZIP 49503 among Grand Rapids’s ZIP areas

Map of ZIP 49503 and nearby ZIP areas, shaded by the share of homes built before 2000ZIP 49504: 18,830 homes, 86.5% built before 2000, median year 195149504ZIP 49505: 14,197 homes, 89.3% built before 2000, median year 195749505ZIP 49507: 13,773 homes, 93.2% built before 2000, median year 194249507ZIP 49506: 13,262 homes, 94.6% built before 2000, median year 195349506ZIP 49503: 19,017 homes, 83.5% built before 2000, median year 193849503
  • under 20% built before 2000
  • 40 to 60%
  • 80% or more
  • Dot size = housing units. Red ring = ZIP 49503. Click a dot to open that ZIP.

Closest ZIP areas

ZIPMilesMedian builtPre-2000
495072.2 S194293.2%
495062.6 SE195394.6%
495052.6 NE195789.3%
495042.9 NW195186.5%

Distance is between Census ZIP centres.

Storm backdrop: Kent County

A ZIP is too small for its own hail record, so this is the county. FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Kent County Relatively Moderate overall (92.2 of 100), Relatively Moderate for hail (73.4), Very High for strong wind (99.0) and Relatively High for tornado (97.8). NOAA logged 18 hail reports in the county, on 10 days with hail of 1 inch or more in the full years 2014 to 2025.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 version, county level. This product uses FEMA’s National Risk Index data but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Where to go from here

Other roofing cities near ZIP 49503: Muskegon, MI (35 miles), Kalamazoo, MI (46 miles), Battle Creek, MI (51 miles).

Questions

How old are the homes in ZIP 49503?

Of the 19,017 housing units, 14,112 (74.2%) were built before 1980, 15,888 (83.5%) before 2000 and 2,225 (11.7%) from 2010 on (Census ACS 2019 to 2023, survey estimate).

Does a house's age tell me how old its roof is in 49503?

No. ACS records the year the structure was built, not the year the roof was last replaced. With 14,112 units built before 1980 in this ZIP, many roofs are replacements rather than originals. Ask the seller for permit records or have a roofer inspect the roof.

Which nearby ZIP has the oldest housing?

Of the 4 closest ZIP areas we cover, 49506 (2.6 miles SE) has the largest share built before 2000, 94.6%, against 83.5% in 49503.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2019 to 2023, tables B25034 (year structure built), B25035, B25003, B25024, B25077 and B19013, ZIP Code Tabulation Areas; ZIP-to-city assignment from the Census 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file (a ZIP is assigned to a city when more than half of its land area lies inside it). A ZCTA is not a USPS ZIP code: it approximates one and can differ at the edges. Public domain. The 12 ZIP-specific figures above differ from ZIP to ZIP.

Information only, not a roof inspection. Pickaroofer does not know the condition of any individual roof.